Palouse Water Conservation Network

Construction of $14 million super center comes to an end

palousewater@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:47:00 GMT

By Sarah Mason Daily News staff writer

With about a month and a half to go till the grand opening, Walmart is on the home stretch of a six-year process that's led to the erection of a new $14 million super center in Pullman.

Walmart Public Affairs Manager Jennifer Spall said crews are now setting up shelving and display units inside the 150,00-square-foot building and will likely start stocking the store with inventory near the end of the month.

Pullman Planning Director Pete Dickinson said the company invested about $5.6 million on projects outside of the building such as paving, constructing traffic lights, laying water lines, landscaping and finishing Fairmont Road.

Crews were still laying bark Thursday on the property, adding a final touch to the landscaping.

"As far as construction on my end that's about it," said Ben Christensen, project manager for Walmart's general contractor Bateman-Hall. "All of my landscaping is done, so it's all planted. We're still waiting for some of our native seed to germinate."

Christensen said about 90 percent of the grass on the property is a native species, with non-native gras sod in areas where they expect more erosion such as pedestrian spots and drainage ponds. The company won't likely water the native species year-round and trees on the property are watered by a drip system, Christensen said.

"They'll get natural rain and grow up and time will tell, but I don't think it'll be 100 percent green by the end of the summer," he said.

Spall said this will help the company cut down on water use on the green spaces at Pullman's Walmart.

Dickinson said though the city doesn't have any ordinances to limit water use on such large properties, Pullman "encourages" responsible landscaping. A city ordinance asks property owners or developers to landscape with limited irrigation in mind, but no type of enforcement is outlined in city code and Dickinson said the most the city can do is have conversations with developers.

"Just having it in the code book of course doesn't mean it's going to translate to a developer when working on a project," Dickinson said.

Businesses in areas zoned for that type of commercial development are required to landscape 10 percent of their property, but the city doesn't outline what kind of landscaping they may have.

Engineers for the Walmart site did, however, have to come up with a stormwater plan that maps out how water runoff will filter through some of the grass before it goes into a storm drain, Stormwater Services Manager Rob Buchert said.

Walmart also will have to pay the city's $5 monthly stormwater fee for every 3,500 square feet of impervious surface including the roof which is about 150,000 square feet, and the parking lot and driveways which comes to about 435,000 square feet, Dickinson said.

Pullman residents won't only notice the changes on the Walmart site, Dickinson said. Two stoplights near the site, erected at about $120,000 apiece, became operational Wednesday and Walmart has funded paving projects for Fairmont Road and the road into the nearby cemetery, Dickinson said. Walmart funds also were used to landscape a section of the cemetery to obscure the view of the big-box store.

"We do what makes sense for the community locally," Spall said.

Walmart submitted an application to build the store in October of 2004, but was stalled by a predominantly local group that protested the construction of the store by appealing the city's determination of environmental non-significance. The Moscow Walmart site is slated to close midnight on the day Pullman's super center opens and employees will be given the chance to transfer to the new store. Though the Moscow store will receive less inventory, Spall said customers can still expect to find all of Walmart's typical goods on the shelves of the store till it closes. Moscow Walmart is slated reopen at a later date.

Sarah Mason can be reached at (208) 882-5561

Opinion: Water woes -- running on empty

palousewater@gmail.com — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:36:00 GMT

Nina Woodford
Moscow-Pullman Daily News

My water quit last month. It ended up being a fairly simple repair to an electrical connection, but we had no water for about 24 hours. Fortunately, it did not involve the pump itself, which is 180 feet underground and costs mega bucks to repair.

We were even more fortunate the problem wasn't a dry well, which would have forced us to dig a deeper and much more expensive well. When the water quit, I had a couple emergency water jugs in the basement for washing dishes and wiping dirty faces, but certainly not enough for toilets, baths or laundry. My three boys thought it was cool that Mom was encouraging them to just "go" behind the barn. It really gets you thinking about water conservation when your total water supply is sitting on your kitchen counter and you've already used half of it just to fix dinner.

It is hot outside and it hasn't rained since July 2, but we have avoided a drought in 2010 so far. As of June 3, the Washington Department of Ecology announced that Washington state emergency drought declarations would be unlikely. Despite a warm and relatively dry winter, we managed to squeak by because of that long cold, wet spring.

According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, 1977 was the worst recorded drought in Washington state. The normal climate cycle has always had dry periods and always will, but droughts appear to be occurring more frequently in recent years. The second worst recorded drought year was 2001, followed by another drought in 2005. I complained a lot about the rain and 57-degree highs in June when my tomatoes wouldn't grow, but it was a good thing for Washington's water supply.

In 1977, I lived in California, which also suffered the driest year in that state's hydrologic record. Two major California watersheds, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, measured at 37 percent and 26 percent of average flows respectively. Water conservation was mandated with strict prohibitions on some specific water uses such as car washing and hosing sidewalks. Urban household use was cut to 75 percent of the previous year's use. For a family that was already pretty conservative with our water, this was a big cut. We never went thirsty and had water for bathing and washing but we watered the house plants and garden with dish and bath water, limited the toilet flushing and turned off the water while showering and brushing our teeth.

Our water has gone dry before this last episode, thanks to my 3-year-old son. Whoever wired our well put the shut off switch about 30 inches off the ground; right at hand level for a curious toddler. It took us two waterless weekends to figure out that the kid was shutting off the pump power. My son was innocent this time but every time the water goes out, it reminds me of how much water we actually use every day and how little water my family really needs to survive. According to a report from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, a typical American family in 1900 used as little as seven gallons per day compared to more than 150 gallons per day today. In 1900, most people got their water from wells and had to carry it home. Now when we can just turn on the faucet, it is easy and cheap to use lots of water. I agree that we need more than seven gallons a day for proper sanitation and personal hygiene but can we sustain 150 gallons a day without running the aquifer dry?

I propose that every American family go through the exercise of spending a full day using only as much water as they can carry. It'll be like camping when you skip baths and wash dishes in a tub. We can call it "Water Day," and like Earth Day, folks can volunteer for community projects such as xeroscape landscaping, installing low-flow toilets and fixing leaky faucets. We can make every day a "Water Day" with basic conservation so that when the next drought comes around - and it will - we'll be ready.

Nina Woodford is full-time mom and part-time veterinarian in Whitman County.

Palouse Ridge Golf Club dealing with losses

palousewater@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:28:00 GMT

Moscow-Pullman Daily News Staff report

The projected loss of money at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club at Washington State University has more than doubled during its first two seasons.

"Several years ago when we projected the revenues and expenditures for the course we anticipated a loss, but the loss is greater than expected," Tom Isaak said, who is the president of the Petaluma, Calif.-based CourseCo, which manages Palouse Ridge.

The initial projected loss of $155,000 for the first season increased to $322,000, a result of several factors, Isaak said. Another loss of $200,000 is expected this year.

The weather, a nationwide trend in declining participation on golf courses and a decrease in middle-class household incomes contributed to the greater loss, Isaak said.

Isaak said it rained throughout the spring this year, and there was snow on the course up until June last spring.

During the last eight years, there's been a decrease in participation on golf courses across the country. Isaak said golf is a slow and frustrating game, which might not appeal to many people at present.

"It's like opera," he said. "Maybe there's a percentage of people who are passionate about opera and there's people who think it's kind of silly, and golf is kind of like that."

In addition, Isaak said during the last 10 years average middle-class household income has declined relevant to inflation.

"There's been a functional recession in the middle-class, which is our clientele," he said.

Although, the projected loss more than doubled, Isaak said it's not as bad compared to how other golf courses are doing. He said some golf courses have gone bankrupt.

Isaak said he is glad for the kind reputation the young course has already earned nationally, and is optimistic that it will get back on track financially

"It's not so bad at all," he said. "I like the long-term position of Palouse Ridge."

Isaak said officials like to strategically plan ahead and they keep a five-year plan in mind. He said they will continue to build on the course's fame and work with the travel industry and local hotels to promote the Palouse and the golf course as a regional attraction.

Officials also will reach out to attract more notable events to take place at the course, and will work on the pricing model to maintain a broad access for clientele. He said some of the prices are now less expensive than when the course first opened.

"The prices have been adjusted several times, and we'll continue to adjust the price model," he said. We are "a little bit like restaurants, you can buy a meal for all kinds of prices."

The operating cost of the course in the 2010 fiscal year was about $1.2 million. Isaak said personnel expense was about half of that cost.

WSU Executive Director of Real Estate and External Affairs Mel Taylor did not return a call seeking comment.

Ban on building houses could be found unconstitutional in court

palousewater@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:34:00 GMT

By Sarah Mason
Moscow-Pullman Daily News staff writer

A Whitman County ordinance protecting the county’s buttes from development may not stand up in court, County Prosecutor Denis Tracy said Monday.

County commissioners heard testimony on removing the butte chapter of the county’s agriculture district building code, which previously mandated no home be built on buttes because the land may play a part in aquifer recharge. Recent information, though inconclusive, said the connection between buttes and the aquifer may be more tenuous than previously thought.

“We had to have a legitimate reason to isolate those buttes for special protection and aesthetics alone was not enough,” County Planner Alan Thomson said. “Since that time there’s been further research done by Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee and it came to the conclusion that they didn’t know for certain that there’s recharge going on at these locations.”

Tracy said this new information could open the county up to litigation and could be found unconstitutional in court. Palouse Prairie Foundation board member Tim Hatten of Moscow said the county should be more concerned with the shrinking natural Palouse prairie than litigation because no one has yet challenged the county’s ordinance.
“The Palouse prairie as an ecosystem has been recognized by (U.S. Geological Survey) and other organizations as an endangered ecosystem,” Hatten said. “That prairie used to cover 800,000 hectares in this area. It’s mostly gone now … these buttes really provide one of the last strongholds for Palouse prairie.”

One hectare is equivalent to about 2.471 acres.

Wind energy opponent Roger Whitten said removing butte protection was just another way for the county to cater to the needs of wind companies. Removing protection on land across the county would give wind companies free rein on where they could develop turbines.

Tracy said this was not the case. “This only affects housing, it doesn’t affect windmills at all,” he said. “The proposal is to remove the absolute bar to residences on certain buttes. Neither the current ordinance nor any change affects windmills.”

Even if the county were to take down the ban on butte development, developers would still have to adhere to code, which restricts houses from being built on the top of a hill or viewpoint. Even then, buttes by nature are difficult to develop because butte bedrock is not conducive to drilling for water, County Public Works Director Mark Storey said.

Thomson added the county has ordinances in place to protect endangered environment and species, so a change to the housing ordinance would not threaten either. If commissioners wish to protect the buttes, they can do so through different means, Tracy said.

“If you want a park, you have to pay for it,” he said.

Discussion about the buttes started up in April after Parker Butte landowner Walter Lunsford applied to the county to build a new home on his butte property.

Commissioners will continue to take written public input through Friday and will likely act on the issue Aug. 2.

Sarah Mason can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-mail to smason@dnews.com.

Study: Climate change affects Rathdrum aquifer

palousewater@gmail.com — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:11:00 GMT

BSU professor spent 10 months analyzing impact on water source

By ALECIA WARREN/Staff writer
Coeur d'Alene Press

Maybe you think climate change is a bunch of hooey, or that it only impacts polar bears.

But some like Dr. Venkataramana Sridhar think it will affect resources a little closer to home.

Like our drinking water.

The assistant professor of civil engineering at Boise State University has recently completed a study on how climate change will impact the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer over the next 50 years.

"There are no questions about these changes. It's going to happen," said Sridhar, who will be presenting his study on Monday at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library. "We are now looking to see how we can adapt and modify and mitigate these impacts."

Sridhar discovered a range of potential effects global warming will have on the aquifer in his 10-month study, which included analyzing global climate models and a hydrology model.

"We look at rainfall, time magnitude of snow melt, variability in water balance components, soil moisture and recharge," he said.

He has predicted several different scenarios, ranging from conservative to extreme.

Temperature at the aquifer, for instance, could increase between .31 to .4 degrees celsius per decade.

"You see a big range of variability, but all of them (the possible scenarios) show that there is a trend in increase," Sridhar said.

His study also predicts between 4 and 5 percent increase in precipitation, or roughly an extra inch a year - which might be melted away by the temperature change, he acknowledged.

The snow melt timing is also predicted to shift, with the peak melt occurring in April instead of May.

That could cause changes in hydrological flows, Sridhar said.

"We're talking about high flows that might be higher than historically high flows. Low flows might be lower or the same as seen today," he said.

There will also be increased magnitude of stream flows, he said, and a change in the recharge pattern.

Locals will have to adapt, he said.

"If we can see a way to save and store the melt that's happening and make it available to the growing season for the low flow season, I think that's going to really help alleviate the problems," he said.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources hired Sridhar to conduct the study as part of its new program, CAMP, the Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan.

The state will use studies like Sridhar's to prepare for potential water management issues down the road, said Helen Harrington, manager of the IDWR water planning section.

"It (climate change) is not really an issue of concern, so much as being sure you're planning for a range of potential changes that could occur," Harrington said. "If there's a potential change in precipitation, the temperature can affect both supply and demand on crops. If we look at what that range of change may be, we can look at how to address that, and in 10 years we can revisit that and say, 'Well, was that forecasting on the mark, or do we need to adjust some of these strategies?'"

Regardless of what happens, she added, the state wants to be prepared for a crisis before it occurs.

"Water is the lifeblood of Idaho," she said. "The Rathdrum Prairie aquifer groundwater resources provides drinking water for the region. It's critical. You have to have that water to exist."

Bill Irving, president of the Coeur d'Alene chapter of the Climate Change Action Network, said the presentation will be interesting to everyone, whether or not they put stock in climate change.

"It's historic. There has never been a 50-year perspective on something as important as this, our aquifer," Irving said. "I just think it's well worth people's time to hear his presentation and ask questions. We're talking about not just now, but your kids' and grandkids' futures."

Sridhar has a Ph.D in biosystems engineering, a master's degree in water/irrigation engineering and management, and a bachelor's in agricultural engineering. He is a registered civil engineer.

The presentation is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. in the Community Room of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

July is time to learn about smarter watering

palousewater@gmail.com — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:15:00 GMT

From the Washington Department of Ecology

SPOKANE — July is Smart Irrigation Month. Despite recent rains, water is still in short supply in many parts of the Inland Northwest. Nearly half of all the water used in an entire year is consumed in the summer months. This means we use more water for outdoor watering than all other uses.

The national Irrigation Association started the observation of Smart Irrigation Month in 2005 to help raise awareness about the value of water efficiency. In the Spokane Coeur d’Alene area, the Regional Water Conservation Collaboration will emphasize Smart Irrigation Month by offering tips, workshops, and tours.

The Regional Water Conservation Collaboration is a group of local governments, water providers, non-profit organizations, interested businesses, and state agencies in North Idaho and northeastern Washington that collaborate, share information, and use resources efficiently to promote water conservation in the region.

“Water conservation is fundamental to ensuring water availability in the future,” said Brook Beeler, environmental educator with the Department of Ecology’s Spokane office. “Using water more efficiently will lessen the effects of our limited water supply. Everyone can use more efficient irrigation practices to keep their lawn and gardens healthy, minimize waste, and save money.”

Watering practices to avoid in order to “Slow the Flow” include:

• Don’t sprinkle between noon and 6 p.m. Some experts have shown that 50% of water can be lost to evaporation when sprinkling during the day.

• Don’t let your hose run. While washing your car, use a nozzle or shut off the faucet until you spray. Running a 5/8-inch hose for 30 minutes wastes up to 150 gallons of water.

• Don’t water streets and sidewalks. Adjust your sprinkler to avoid the pavement; otherwise, evaporation will claim all the water that doesn’t end up on your lawn.

“Slow the Flow” is the city of Spokane’s slogan for its water conservation program. The city is a member of the Regional Water Conservation Collaboration.

For water users who want to get their hands dirty and really save, a new how-to website, www.spokanesmartscape.com, has been launched by the Spokane County Conservation District with watershed planning funds from the Department of Ecology. It provides detailed information about low water use landscaping.

Website visitors can choose from five sample landscape designs; preview native, low water use plants and read Spokane Smartscape success stories.

During July water users have several opportunities to learn more:

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, July 9, 2010, irrigation professionals can watch live product demonstrations and learn about the newest “Smart Irrigation” controllers at the Water Conservation Summit and Field Day for irrigation professionals. The event is sponsored by Ewing Co., an irrigation supply company in Spokane. For more information, contact Dan Watt at 509- 921-9530.

From 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 10, homeowners can learn the basics about saving water in home landscapes at the Water Conservation Summit and Field Day for homeowners, also sponsored by Ewing in Spokane. For more information, contact Dan Watt at 509-921-9530.

The Coeur d’ Alene Garden Club’s 13th Annual Tour is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 11 where the Kootenai Environmental Alliance and the city of Coeur d’ Alene will feature a xeriscape demonstration garden. The garden is on the corner of 10th Street and Foster Avenue in Coeur d’ Alene. Call (208) 664-0987 or (208)-772-3148 for details.

People closer to Pend Oreille County may want to go to the Pend Oreille County Garden Tour and dinner on Sunday, Aug. 1. For more information, contact Carol Mack 509-447-2401, or visit the Pend Orielle County Washington State University Master Gardener website at http://pendoreille.wsu.edu/mg/.

WSU garden gets a new green roof

palousewater@gmail.com — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:14:00 GMT

The Daily Evergreen

The Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Display Garden now features an extensive green roof.

The green roof is part of the multi-phased display garden, where students from the landscape architecture program are given the opportunity to put theory into practice.

“Too often in the design discipline there is a disconnect between the academic theory of design and actual application,” said Phillip Waite, associate professor in landscape architecture. “The students who worked on this project from the (Landscape Architecture) 367 class got the chance to pull those two things together and design a space, do a cost estimate on the materials and eventually build it.”

The Display Garden’s green roof is the first extensive green roof on campus, not to be confused with an intensive green roof, Waite said.

“An intensive green roof is one that is built to hold a great deal of weight from trees, shrubs and pedestrian foot traffic. A great example of that would be the Holland Library addition at the mall,” he said. “The green roof that the students designed is an extensive one, which boasts a simpler scale and creates less water runoff while lasting longer than a traditional roof.”

The green roof itself, which sits atop a shade and storage pavilion, was built almost entirely from 100-year-old recycled wood. It supports small drought tolerant plants and ornamental grasses.

“My hope is that people who see the green roof realize how easy it is to create environmentally sensitive structures,” Waite said. “If college students can design and build something as special as this, what could a motivated homeowner do on their own properties?”

Caroline Pearson-Mims, manager of the Display Garden said people are excited about the newly installed green roof.

“It’s really a very unique kind of green roof because people can see the top of it from the sidewalk because it slopes down,” she said. “We’re eventually going to have informational signs posted through the whole Display Garden so that people can be educated on different aspects of it.”

Columbia Basin aquifers levels dropping

palousewater@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:11:00 GMT

Columbia Basin aquifers levels dropping

Tri-City Herald

Last updated: June 22nd, 2010 10:19 AM (PDT)

Levels in the deep basalt aquifers that supply much of the Columbia Basin with drinking and irrigation water are declining at a rate that means some wells will go dry, legislators and Franklin County commissioners were told Monday.

Pinpointing when the water in the Wanapum and Grand Ronde basalt aquifers could run out is one goal of a hydrologic modeling project under way in Franklin, Adams, Grant and Lincoln counties by the Columbia Basin Ground Water Management Area.

Water is up to 10,000 years old in the Grande Ronde, and it is not being recharged because of its depth, Paul Stoker, executive director of the management area, said in a presentation to commissioners, state Senate Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, and Rep. Terry Nealey, R-Dayton.

"It's been a race to the bottom for 40 years," Stoker said of the declines.

Water in the Odessa Subregion must be pumped from 750 feet to up to 2,400 feet in some locations, according to the state. A U.S. Geological Survey report released this month of the larger 44,000-square mile Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer system -- which includes Odessa -- found water levels declined an average 2 feet in the Grande Ronde from 1984 to 2009.

Static ground water levels in wells -- the elevation of water in a column -- that supply Moses Lake with its drinking water, for example, have dropped at an average rate of 18.7 feet per year in the past decade because of irrigation and municipal demands, according to a new draft study by the Columbia Basin GWMA.

Those declines are largely mirrored in other areas of the Columbia Basin, said Stoker, who has presented findings of the ground water declines to city councils in the Basin. His presentations aren't always warmly received.

"I've had some people tell me, 'You can't tell people this. It will hurt economic development,' " Stoker said. "Well, if you are going to run out of water in nine years, you can't fix this water supply problem in nine months."

The question nearly everyone asks him, Stoker said, is when. He said the GWMA hopes through the hydrologic modeling project to be able to provide some estimate in early 2011.

"Is Moses Lake going to run out of water? Yes, they will," Stoker said. "This scenario exists basically in nearly every city from Grand Coulee south."

A survey the Columbia Basin GWMA conducted with Odessa Subarea well users found that 31 percent already are raising short-season crops or counting on their wells for supplemental use only because of declines.

Another 31 percent expect to follow suit by 2015 and another 17 percent by 2020, according to the GWMA, which received $2.5 million in funding from the Legislature in 2009.

"These graphs are sobering -- 2020 is not that far away," Hewitt said after the meeting.

"I've said this before, but if oil is worth fighting for, what about water? We take water for granted, but what will we do if we don't have it?" Hewitt said.

A study by Washington State University has concluded that aquifer decline could cost the four counties up to 3,600 jobs and up to $630 million in regional sales, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.

Fixing the water shortage likely will require federal and state involvement, officials said. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Ecology since 2006 have been studying the potential of replacing ground water in the Odessa that's now used for irrigation with surface water.

Among possibilities under consideration in an environmental impact statement for the subarea are expanding existing facilities or building new canals, tunnels, siphons or pumping plants. Additional water could be diverted from the Columbia River for the surface supply, according to Ecology.

Reclamation is studying several options, including modifying operations at Banks Lake and constructing a new 127,000-acre foot reservoir in Rocky Coulee, according to Ecology.

A draft of the environmental impact statement is expected to be released this summer, with the final version out in summer 2011.

* Kevin McCullen: 509-582-1535; kmccullen@tricityherald.com

Columbia plateau aquifer levels dropping

palousewater@gmail.com — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:40:00 GMT

By KEVIN MCCULLEN - Tri-City Herald

Ground water levels declined over the past quarter-century in 83 percent of 470 wells measured in the sprawling Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer system in southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon and western Idaho, a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey found.

The steepest drops occurred in the deepest basalt aquifer in the 44,000-square-mile plateau. Smaller declines were recorded in shallower aquifers that receive recharge water from irrigation, precipitation or discharge from rivers or wells, according to the survey.

Hydrologists compared readings taken in 1984 with measurements recorded in 2009 for the report, which was released this week.

Declines were reported throughout the Columbia Plateau, but were more widespread in parts of the Yakima River Basin, in western Lincoln, eastern Grant and southwestern Adams counties, and in the Pullman-Moscow area.

Average annual declines over the 25 years in the Moscow-Pullman area, which taps ground water for municipal water supplies, averaged more than 1 foot per year, the survey found.

Irrigation accounted for much of the use elsewhere, the survey said.

The average annual decline in the Grande Ronde basalt unit - the oldest and deepest level of the aquifer tapped for water use - averaged 2 feet a year over the period. Thickness of the basalt in the Grande Ronde may be greater than 15,000 feet near the central part of the basin, according to the survey.

Declines also occurred in the Yakima River Basin because of heavy pumping from the Wanapum basalt unit, which averages up to 1,200 feet thick, the survey said.

But the drop was less in the shallower Overburden unit, at less than 0.3 feet per year, the survey said.

Overall, results of the study - launched to assess ground water levels in the plateau and identify trends in storage and use - came as no surprise to hydrologists for the U.S. Geological Survey, said Sue Kahle, project manager for the agency.

"Water level declines have been tracked for many years in smaller (areas). This the first time we looked at the Columbia Plateau as a whole," Kahle said.

Historically, ground water levels in the regional aquifer system have dropped since the 1930s.

The study "confirms some of the concerns swirling around for years," said Joye Redfield-Wilder, a spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Ecology in Yakima.

Darryll Olsen of the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association, which represents agricultural interests and irrigation districts in Eastern Washington, said the most interesting part of the survey is the decline in water levels in the Grande Ronde unit.

Water levels dropped by more than 100 feet in some of the 136 Grande Ronde unit wells where measurements were taken, with declines greater than 25 feet measured in 60 percent of the wells, the survey said.

"I'd like to know what is going on in the Grande Ronde," Olsen said.

One explanation may be the depth of the formation, said Guy Gregory, hydrogeologist with Ecology's water resources program in Spokane. He supervised a group of scientists involved in the study.

"Recharge has a hard time getting there and there is not a lot of recharge to begin with," Gregory said. "We're using more of (the recharge water) and it's harder to get more to it because of its depth."

The study will help scientists develop a ground water-flow simulation model that water managers hope to use to test ways of managing the region's ground water supplies under different development and climatic conditions, Kahle said.

Alberta's Tar Sands and Idaho's Wilderness Gateway

palousewater@gmail.com — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:45:00 GMT

By Nick Gier, New West Magazine

In April of 2008, over 1,000 ducks flying over Northern Alberta took a break from their migration north and landed in what they perceived was just another lake in the area. They never took flight again, along with other 10,000 other waterfowl that year. The water in many of these lakes has been tarred and poisoned by bitumen processing.

Extracting hydrocarbons from crude oil and coal has always been a dirty business, but tar sands processing releases three to four times the greenhouse gases that conventional drilling does. Alberta’s tar sands, whose 175 billion barrel reserve is second only to Saudi Arabia, requires 220 gallons of fresh water to produce one barrel of oil. The slurry is cooked using natural gas, consuming in one day what it takes to heat 3 million homes.

The waste water from the plants has polluted the land and the once pure Athabasca River. Cancer rates are rising among the native populations there, and their moose meat is now laced with dangerous levels of arsenic.

The environment group One Blue Marble reports that processing the bitumen releases benzene, “one of the most lethal human carcinogens, into the atmosphere at a rate of 100 tons per year; it could be as high as 800 tons per year by 2015.”

Canada’s Imperial Oil and Exxon-Mobil are now requesting permits from Idaho and Montana to move 200 loads of equipment to Alberta’s Kearle Oil Project. These loads are truly oversized: 210 feet long, 30 feet tall, 24 feet wide, and 300 tons. They require tractors on the front and the back.

We can well understand why the people of Vancouver, BC and every town between there and Fort McMurray, Alberta do not want this super heavy traffic on their roads, but why should the people of Idaho and Montana agree to this?

A quick look at the map demonstrates why the oil companies have chosen the southern route: the Port of Lewiston 400 miles inland, a virtually unobstructed Highway 12 to Missoula, and then comparatively obstacle-free Highway 200 to the Canadian border.

About 70 miles of Idaho Highway 12 runs along the Lochsa River, which has the “wild and scenic” designation. This pristine area offers superior camping, fishing, and rafting opportunities. At mile marker 124 there is a campground named “Wilderness Gateway.” From there backpackers and mule trains enter the Selway-Bitterroot, the largest wilderness area outside of Alaska.

The Idaho permits require no public input, and the Department of Transportation is treating this as it would any other oversized load. All that its engineers have to do is to make sure that the loads have sufficient number of wheels so that the road and bridges are not destroyed by the tremendous weight.

The oil companies have assured the two states that the equipment contains no hazardous materials, and that it will be moved at night in 50 mile segments. The companies have also contributed $22-26 million dollars to road upgrades. In addition Idaho will receive $1,000 per load for a total of $200,000 in fees.

The state of Montana does allow citizen input, and on April 29 hundreds of people showed up at a public hearing in Missoula. Those who testified now have legal standing to file suit in federal court to stop the shipments.

In March federal judge Donald Malloy ruled that drilling on 38,000 acres in Eastern Montana must be suspended until the impact of green gas emissions has been considered. (Equally massive equipment for this project has now arrived in Lewiston and was scheduled to take the same route as the Imperial Oil loads.) Short of a suit, Montana activists are hoping that they can persuade the government to conduct a federal environmental impact statement.

Today oil extraction in Northern Alberta is the largest “single point” source of green house gases in Canada, and experts predict that “by 2015, the oil sands are expected to emit more greenhouse gases than the nation of Denmark (pop. 5.4 million), and by 2020 the oil sands will release twice the amount produced currently by all the cars and trucks in Canada.”

Observing that “one doesn’t build a railroad and run only one train on it,” Missoula attorney Robert Gentry believes that this is only the beginning of regular transshipment of oil equipment from Lewiston to Fort McMurray. He says that the Port of Lewiston is expanding to accommodate this new business.

The processed crude from these fields, doubling to 2.2 million barrels a day by 2015, is pumped directly into pipelines to be refined in the U.S. It is predicted that 40 percent of America’s oil supplies will eventually come from what has been called the most destructive extraction industry in human history.

On the fourth day of the shipments from Lewiston, Imperial Oil’s huge loads will sit all day long at Wilderness Gateway. I can think of nothing more offensive to me as an Idahoan, who, like tens of thousands of others, loves this state’s natural beauty.

These steel behemoths will symbolize everything that is bad about extracting oil from and destroying Canadian wilderness and remind us of everything that is good about Idaho’s pristine land and waters.

Nick Gier taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. During that time he has also fished and rafted Idaho’s rivers and hiked its wilderness trails.

Proposed plan near Bolville raises concerns of area residents

palousewater@gmail.com — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:25:00 GMT

I-minerals would process materials near existing pit mine

By Holly Bowen
Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Several Latah County residents gave administrators of i-minerals inc. an earful of concerns during a public hearing Wednesday afternoon in Deary regarding the Vancouver, B.C.-based company's request for a 29-year lease on Idaho-owned land near Bovill.

The company hopes to use the 225 acres of land to build and operate a processing plant for feldspar, quartz, kaolin clay and other minerals, working in conjunction with an open-pit mining site the company already operates near Moose Creek Reservoir. Management said the project would bring about 40 jobs in Bovill and about 30 jobs in Lewiston.

A. Lamar Long, exploration manager for i-minerals, said the company has been meeting with potential buyers to find a long-term market for the products that would come out of the proposed plant. He said a 29-year lease is appropriate because customers would expect the company to provide certain materials for "years to come."

"(A potential buyer) wants a long-term source, and therefore, we don't get in the business unless we think we can be in the business for at least 20 years," Long said.

The processing plant near Bovill would crush the minerals into varying sizes of sand before shipping them to another i-minerals processing plant in the Lewiston port area. Long said the processed minerals can be used for glass products, ceramics, paint, golf course sand and high-tech products.

He said feldspar production is concentrated in the eastern United States, and it's expensive for companies to ship materials from east to west.

"If we're producing right here, we can ship much closer," he said.

He said the company anticipates 40 round trips per day, five days a week, between the mine site and the processing plant - a 4.2 mile route. Because the existing forest road there won't sustain that traffic, Long said i-minerals will improve the road and widen it to 30-40 feet. Another 50 truck loads would take the processed minerals from Bovill to Lewiston, he said.

The proposed plant would draw 150 gallons of water per minute 24 hours a day, five days a week - 1.08 million gallons per week. Long pledged the process would be free of discharge because the water would be pumped directly from the mine site to the plant, where it would evaporate during operations.

"We don't think this will have any effect at all on Moose Creek," he said.

But a couple local residents disagreed and said the risk is high for water contamination if there is an accident, such as if a loaded truck falls into the Potlatch River.

Ludmilla Saskova, a Deary resident, said she moved to the area from larger cities 20 years ago to escape the hustle and bustle of industry like the proposed processing facility.

"I'm concerned about water and air quality, transportation, all those trucks going down the Kendrick grade," she said, also expressing concerns that the company's water use would reduce aquifer levels.

Margo Welch, a Deary-area property owner, said i-minerals has no track record as a company and hasn't demonstrated it could pay the price if environmental damage occurred.

"I have not seen one iota of a contingency plan," Welch said.

Long said the company will develop the requisite plans as its various permits receive approval, adding that it would need to be insured before it could go to work. He also said i-minerals would be willing to participate in public hearings at each of those steps.

Individuals interested in commenting on the proposed processing plant have until 2 p.m. today to submit their written feedback to the Idaho Department of Land office at 3130 State Highway 3 in Deary or by fax to (208) 877-1122. Public comments will be summarized and provided to the IDL director and staff who are processing the i-minerals application. Information about i-minerals can be found on its website at www.imineralsinc.com.

Holly Bowen can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at hbowen@dnews.com.

Treat every day like Earth Day, go green

palousewater@gmail.com — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:12:00 GMT

Conserve water – little things all add up

Lenore Perconti
The Daily Evergreen
Washington State University

Getting some very interesting looks from my fellow Cougs, I picked pop cans and plastic bottles from out of garbage bins on Earth Day. Fortunately, I was not the only one who felt the need to take one extra step for the Earth last Thursday. In fact, it seemed as if most of WSU got up and put on the best green facade it could muster. Signs promoting organic foods, recycling and other “green” marketing messages dotted the campus. What caught my attention the most though was the Greeks’ demonstration of water conservation.

Despite using a dunk tank, which is kinda like hosting a bonfire to save the rainforest, the Greeks did an excellent and creative job of portraying facts about water-wasteful everyday things are. Their low-tech ways of conserving water in toilets is a great idea, but the reasons why water conservation is important, especially on the Palouse, was lost on students passing by.

Water conservation on the Palouse is critical because our water source cannot be replenished. Our water is mined from a vast underground aquifer called the Grande Ronde Aquifer. The Palouse Water Conservation Network has put together valuable data on this aquifer. Water seeped into the aquifer during the last ice age in a process that made the water pure and a valuable resource to all who have lived on the Palouse.

There is a layer of basalt between the soil and aquifer. There are good and bad things that come with this protective barrier of rock. The basalt prevents rain water from seeping into the aquifer, keeping contaminants out. The downside is that this aquifer cannot be replenished, so once it is gone, it cannot be replaced.

Unfortunately, the critical message I’m trying to portray won’t be as effective as the water tank spectacle last Thursday, because my message doesn’t feature girls in wet T shirts – just my lonely mugshot next to the column.

Water is being removed from the aquifer at alarming rates. The new WSU 18-hole golf course is pumping around 125 million gallons of water out of the aquifer each year alone. Imagine what both WSU and the UI are taking out in addition to that, plus the towns of Pullman and Moscow.

Not all hope is lost, though. We need to rethink our roles in the community. Even though a student’s stay here in Pullman is temporary, the impact can last a lifetime for the area. Doing little things to conserve water add up. Putting rock-filled pop bottles in your toilet tank is an excellent idea. You can take your water conservation to the next level by taking shorter showers, running your dishwasher less often and being conscious of how often you wash your clothes. It’s always helpful to ask yourself questions like, “Is that shirt really dirty after wearing it for two hours?” or “Do I really need a second shower today?” If you are mindful, conserving water will soon become a habit that you can take on to your next location in life.

I wish every day was Earth Day. We could use a reminder every day that water conservation is critical. However, it’s all up to the individual to conserve. Remember: Be Crimson and go Green!

Opinion: Surprise benefits from smart water use

palousewater@gmail.com — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:44:00 GMT

"His view" By Bill Brock
Moscow-Pullman Daily News

I was wading into the stream in my underwear, tree saw in hand, with a flak jacket on for protection, when it dawned on me that I was having a pretty good time. The immediate mission was to open a channel through some Russian olive trees, so I was wearing a boater's life jacket for defense against the trees' sharp thorns.

Good times on the bayou.

The venue was the Winchester Wasteway, an improbable slough-cum-stream that flows through low, scrubby country west and south of Moses Lake. I was there last weekend on a canoe camping trip with friends I'll call "Bill Hendrix" and "Brian French."

The voyage was a simple overnight getaway, but it transported us into a primal landscape where humans are bit players. We were surrounded by wildlife - with fish jumping, muskrats diving, turtles sunning, beavers gnawing, frogs croaking, songbirds singing, coyotes yipping and a thousand sandhill cranes wheeling overhead.

It was a complete break from our day-to-day lives in town. Deeper still, it was a tonic for the soul.

Though it's great for a back-to-nature canoe trip, the fecundity of the Winchester Wasteway is an unintended consequence of human activity many miles to the north. It was, and remains, a rare win-win for nature lovers and big-time farmers - two disparate groups that often are at odds.

When Grand Coulee Dam was completed, and water began to flow through the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project, it soaked into the soil and recharged the groundwater. After a few years, springs began to bubble out of the earth in places where springs had never existed.

The spring water was joined by irrigation returns from farm fields, and it began to flow southeast toward what is now Potholes Reservoir. The Winchester Wasteway isn't the only stream of this pedigree; the Frenchman Hills Wasteway parallels the Winchester Wasteway to the west and south.

Over the years, irrigation returns and groundwater recharge have created an impressive oasis of wild land surrounded by intensively farmed croplands. From a land management perspective, the area encompasses the Desert Wildlife Area, the Potholes Wildlife Area and the Seep Lakes Wildlife Area, which are primarily owned and administered by the state of Washington.

On top of that, groundwater recharge and a revitalized aquifer created the wetlands that are now the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, west of Othello.

Not a bad unintended consequence, eh?

Now contrast that happy story with the unfortunate tale of two aquifers that supply water to tens of thousands of people in Moscow and Pullman.

A century ago, Pullman was known as "The Artesian City." Why? Because fresh, clean water spurted from the ground whenever someone drilled a well.

In 1909, there were 20 artesian wells scattered around town. They were geysers actually, one of which coughed up 3 million gallons per day.

No need to pump water. The aquifer was so charged up that water literally leaped out of the well. Largely because of that, Pullman was chosen as the site for Washington's land-grant college.

Now fast-forward 100 years.

Today, the aquifers that supply Moscow and Pullman - the Wanapum and primarily the Grande Ronde - are in modest but measurable decline.

In fact, they have been declining for decades. The artesian wells of Pullman are long gone.

Water must be pumped from ever-deeper levels because aquifer withdrawals exceed the rate of recharge. Mining the groundwater, which is what's going on, is unsustainable over the long haul. It's also expensive because, at 8.3 pounds per gallon, water requires a lot of energy to lift.

In fairness, water managers for local cities and universities are aware of the problem. They are working to reverse the decline, and total water withdrawal from the aquifers is diminishing from year to year.

But local aquifers, particularly the Grande Ronde, are still dropping. If that trend continues, the Palouse is more likely to resemble Ozymandias than the Winchester Wasteway.

William Brock lives in Pullman.

Bringing water to the Odessa area

palousewater@gmail.com — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:02:00 GMT

Listen

Steve Jackson
Northwest Public Radio

MOSES LAKE, WA - Water managers near the Moses Lake area are excited about a new project to get water to growers in a region where groundwater has been disappearing at an incredible rate. Steve Jackson reports.

The Columbia Basin Irrigation Project began back when Grand Coulee dam was built and allowed farmers to grow crops in the dry desert areas of Eastern Washington. The project was designed to be built gradually, and take as long as 70 years to be completed. One region that was supposed to eventually be served by the project was east of Moses Lake.

But for various reasons, the infrastructure to carry the water to that area was never completed. One reason was a lack of funding authorized by congress. Another factor, a realization that water removed from the Columbia river had a negative impact of native salmon, which were also listed as an endangered species.

Jim Blanchard: "The state of Washington went through a tremendous change in the way they needed to look at fish in the entire state and that include the Columbia river.”

Farmers there came to rely more and more on groundwater from the Odessa aquifer.

But nowadays parts of that aquifer are declining by up to ten feet per year.

Craig Simpson: "They've been lowering their wells to a point where it's not economical for them to go any deeper, because their not able to get the water so they've decreased their amount of acres they're irrigating for high value crops and are doing more crop rotation as a result.”

That's Craig Simpson manager of east Columbia irrigation district, who says growers nowadays don't have enough water for the lucrative crops that bring in a lot of cash like potatoes and are switching to lower value crops, like wheat.

But now, a federal stimulus grant of $50 million will allow the Bureau of Reclamation to expand the capacity of an existing canal in the area, and bring water to 10,000 acres in that Odessa region. Part of the deal relies on agreements inked with the Spokane and Colville tribes that allow the Bureau to get additional water from Lake Roosevelt.

But the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, a Spokane Environmental group is worried about the plan, given the trend of a drier climate in the Northwest. Rachael Osborn is an attorney with that organization.

Rachael Osborn: “we are already seeing reduced snowpack in the Columbia mountain ranges in the future we think there will be less water in the future. Is it right to be taking out more water now when we are already stressed and don't have enough flow for the fisheries?”

The environmental group is challenging the expansion of the irrigation plan in court.

The Bureau of Reclamation spokesman counters by saying the impact on endangered salmon runs in providing water for this project should be minimal.

Jim Blanchard: "The water will be removed from the river in times when there is excess of flow rates needed for the salmon, there won't be any additional water taken out in August that would have normally gone down stream. We have a tremendous amount of water ins storage in FDR reservoir we have about 4 and half million acre feet of storage right there, and were talking about 30,000 acre feet, so you can see it's a very small percentage.”

But increasing irrigation in the Odessa area for 10,000 acres is one thing. The Bureau is currently studying options for how to irrigate the remaining 100,000 acres in that region that are currently relying on the declining groundwater. A draft environmental impact study on that is scheduled to be released later this year.

Idaho snowpack remains below average

palousewater@gmail.com — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:13:00 GMT

By Rocky BarkeR The Idaho Statesman Floaters, farmers and power users will see less water this summer unless Idaho's snowpack conditions change soon. Snow survey data collected last week across Idaho by the Natural Resources Conservation Service show near record low winter precipitation has resulted in meager snowpacks across the state that range from 55 to 75% of average. "The highest snowpacks are along the state's western and southern edges since they are affected by the major storms hitting the southwestern states," said Ron Abramovich, Water Supply specialist for NRCS. "That‚s the El Nino weather pattern - where the southwest gets above average snowfall and the Pacific Northwest is dry." Idah'‚s water supply comes from mountain snowpacks. The majority of reservoir inflows come from snowpacks above 6,000 in southern Idaho and above 4,500 feet in northern Idaho. Given the low snowpacks, runoff will be below normal across the state and irrigation water shortages are predicted in many central, southern and eastern Idaho basins. Two long-term snow measuring stations in the Upper Snake Basin in Yellowstone National Park are at the third lowest reading since records started in 1919. The snowpack in this area affects water supply all the way west to near Glenns Ferry. "February's mountain precipitation ranged from 30-55% of average, adding to below average amounts for November, December and January," said Abramovich. "Because of the low precipitation amounts, streamflow forecasts decreased from February predictions." Most reservoirs across the state are storing above average amounts for March 1. However, with well below average streamflow predicted for this summer, irrigation demand will draw down reservoirs to their minimal storage levels by summer's end and greatly increase the need for good snow next winter." "One last hope to salvage this year's water supply would be to receive a cool and wet spring," Abramovich added. "Above average precipitation and cool temperatures in April and May would delay snow melt, keeping the snowpack in the high country longer." rbarker@idahostatesman.com