"Pullman council will up its ante to PBAC"

Thank God the Pullman City Council, along with the Whitman County Commissoners, see right through the political agenda behind the water hysteria that is currently gripping Moscow. From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

City will boost annual contribution to $20,000

Pullman City Councilwoman Ann Heath doesn't want the city to get caught up in the "politics of water."

In a meeting Tuesday, Heath said she wants assurance the increased funding needs of the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee are "nonpolitical in leaning."

Pullman Public Works Director Mark Workman presented the council with a proposal to increase the city's contribution to the multijurisdictional group aimed to provide safe and lasting water to residents on the Palouse.

Pullman, a major user of the aquifer, contributes $8,000 per year, as does the city of Moscow, the University of Idaho and Washington State University. Other entities that pump less water, which include Colfax and Latah and Whitman counties, contribute $2,000 per year.

Workman said major pumpers are being urged to increase their funding to $20,000 per year to maintain a three-quarter-time executive manager position, held by Steve Robischon.

Workman, who also is a PBAC member, said PBAC members and volunteers were spread thin in recent years trying to conduct research and provide administrative support, and there was talk of disbanding. The executive manager position has helped to keep PBAC afloat, but also has drained the committee's reserves, which are now in the red.

"It's the overwhelming consensus of PBAC members that hiring an executive manager has met and exceeded expectations," Workman said. "But we are spending out of reserves right now to pay for the operational expenses of PBAC."

Workman said he shares Heath's sentiment in wanting to be cautious with city money.

"I want to make sure that it's ... in Pullman's best interest," he said.

The council voted to provide the additional funding to PBAC. Workman said other PBAC members are making similar presentations to their agencies. If other agencies opt out of the increased funding proposal, Pullman likely will follow suit, he said, adding that "Pullman is in only in if everyone else is in."

Councilman Keith Bloom said the council's ability to change its mind regarding funding made him more comfortable "that it won't be used to beat us around the head and shoulders."

The council also agreed to maintain the city's $20,0000 contribution for PBAC research. The money will come out of the city's Utility Fund.

Workman said the money will help fund studies to evaluate things such as recharge and alternative water sources.

"While much has been learned, there is much more to be learned," Workman said, adding that the four major pumpers of the water must unanimously agree on a research project before PBAC funds are used.

PBAC is all well and good as long it is non-political and non-regulatory. The instant it becomes so, then Pullman must pull out.

Water of the West

I have received reports from numerous Palousitics readers about a University of Idaho College of Natural Resources Palouse water supply survey in the mail (see image below). As far as I can tell, this is being sent randomly to Pullman and Moscow residents (I have not received one.)



From what I can gather, this survey is part of a new graduate water resources program at UI called "Water of the West." This program was approved by the State Board of Education on April 20, after after receiving a $1.6M Strategic Initiative grant last year.

According to the website:

As part of the Strategic Initiative grant, faculty in the Water Resources Program are applying an integrative process the issue of water resources sustainability in the Palouse Basin. Recent legal and political conflict over development of groundwater in the Palouse basin has increased awareness of potential water management problems that may threaten the sustainability of current water use levels and the potential for future population growth. Urban development is thought to threaten water quality by increasing storm water runoff and degrading wetlands and riparian corridors. Development of monocultural agriculture in the Palouse region may have altered patterns and quality of runoff and infiltration.

From a legal perspective, the Palouse Basin faces numerous issues ranging from jurisdictional issues related to ground and surface water boundaries, to the legal separation between water quality and quantity. The Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) recently held a public meeting in the basin to explore the public interest in adjudicating the Idaho portion of the basin (a process of determining and cataloguing water rights). At the interface between law and policy on the one hand, and science and engineering on the other, are questions concerning the degree of scientific certainty necessary to make decisions, the cost and feasibility of engineering solutions, the legality of their implementation, and the design of institutions to meet these challenges. From a social and economic perspective, the basin faces the problem of planning for future growth in the face of a divided public. Numerous scientists have described the basin’s hydrogeologic complexity and uncertainties in understanding of recharge and connections between the surface and groundwater systems. Finally, like so many water bodies in the West, development has come at the expense of its native habitat.

This survey would appear to be part of gathering the "stakeholder input." If you received one, be sure to let them know the only stake being held is the one being driven into Whitman County's heart by the City of Moscow.