Members ATtendance

VISITORS:  John Bush, UI Professor Geological Sciences;  Bill French, interested citizen; Les MacDonald, Public Works Director City of Moscow;  Angie Petersen, IDEQ; Kathleen Warnick, interested citizen.

 

1)      Call to Order and Approval of September 18, 2003 Minutes
Jay Becker, PBAC Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:35 PM.  The minutes of the September 18, 2003 meeting were approved by consensus.

2)      Discussion of Karl Dreher’s Comments on the Palouse Basin at Lewiston Conference
Dale Ralston, who was present at the conference and talked with Karl afterwards, said Karl spoke very frankly about his perception of the situation on the Palouse.  Karl said the Palouse Basin is being mined.  Consequently, he spoke of placing the Idaho side in a ground water management area (GWMA).  In the discussion afterwards Karl expressed to Dale the possibility of procuring funds, even in this tight economy, to help the PBAC entities move toward a solution to the ground water mining situation on the Palouse.  Karl asked Dale about specific projects that PBAC is seeking funding for and the match that PBAC could provide if funding help were provided.  Dale requested the opportunity to speak further with Karl while in Boise next Monday and got an appointment for Monday at 1:30.   Dale said he would appreciate having someone from PBAC and especially from the City of Moscow, which would be the primary entity impacted by designation of GWMA on the Idaho side of the line, accompany him to speak with Karl on Monday. 

In the discussion that followed, Dale said the designation of the Idaho portion of the Palouse Basin as a Ground Water Management Area would not curtail any existing water rights but it could offer protection against a possible court forced designation of Critical GWMA, which likely would limit growth in the Moscow area.  The designation of GWMA might also facilitate procuring State of Idaho funding help for combating the falling ground water levels.  Concern was expressed that the designation of a GWMA would have an adverse impact on the Idaho side of the basin relative to the Washington side. 
Kirkland said he had talked with Bob Haynes, the North Idaho Administrator or IDWR, about a possible GWMA designation.  He asked Bob for the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of such a designation before any decision is made.  Bob said there would be opportunity to discuss the topic before any decision was made.
When no one from Moscow was able to meet with Ralston and IDWR Director Dreher Monday afternoon in Boise, Kirkland agreed to go.  He asked PBAC to clarify for Dale and him what projects should be discussed.  PBAC agreed that the projects proposed next in the 7 year plan: 1) a pilot passive drainage well to determine the effectiveness of using excess shallow aquifer water to recharge the deep aquifer; 2) a monitoring well field to monitor the impact of the passive drainage well on both the shallow and deep aquifer and help to clarify the direction of water movement within the deep aquifer; and 3) a pilot infiltration basin study should be proposed if specific projects are asked for.  The general consensus appeared to be a desire to  discuss with IDWR personnel the implications of an official GWMA designation for the Idaho side of the Palouse Basin.  PBAC and the Palouse Basin entities are operating as if under a de facto GWMA designation.  What, if any changes, might be expected?  The three actions mandated by GWMA designation:  formation of an advisory board,  develop a Ground Water Management Plan for the basin and agree on a timetable for stopping the fall in the deep aquifer system water levels are already in place.

3)      Continued discussion of PBAC Goals for next 7 Years
(a revised handout was emailed to all PBAC members and available at the meeting)
Kirkland said he revised the goals outlined and added comments to help clarify where current projects fit into the progression toward a decision on a solution package by 2010 for resolving the falling ground water levels challenge.  The top research objectives, according to Kirkland, should be to determine whether ground water in the Palouse River area is moving naturally or can be induced to move toward the Moscow and Pullman areas.  If ground water is moving from the Palouse River area or can be induced to move toward the Moscow and Pullman areas, then there is the possibility of enhancing this movement to significantly increase recharge to the Palouse Basin area using excess winter flows from the Palouse River.  If there is no reasonable possibility of utilizing excess Palouse River winter runoff, then capturing and utilizing surface runoff from the Moscow Mountain Front and/or precipitation and/or recycled water need to be the focus of near future research and pilot projects.   These latter projects need to be evaluated in any case but on an appropriate time scale.
Kirkland emphasized that highlighting this next focus for research should in no way diminish the need to continue water level monitoring and complete current research on basin water losses, water ages, water movement and aquifer compartmentalization.  The preparation for future pilot projects being funded in FY 2004 needs to be followed up with actual pilot projects in FY2005 and future years.  Kirkland proposed three projects: a pilot passive drainage well connecting the shallow and deep aquifer systems; a monitoring well field to increase understanding of the aquifer systems and the movement of water in the shallow and deep aquifers as well as the resulting changes caused by a passive drainage well; and a pilot infiltration basin project to clarify recharge augmentation options to the shallow aquifer.

 

4)      Preparation for completing Contracts for FY2004
Becker requested Committee support for using a simplified UI contract agreement to handle PBAC funded research and projects.  The contracts would be handled through the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute and be reviewed by the UI legal council rather than the councils of the 6 entities.  This will greatly speed up the processing. 
In addition Becker asked for support in working out in advance a contract processing mechanism that would allow PBAC to quickly proceed with new projects once outside funds are available.  The Committee unanimously agreed to support Becker’s two requests.

 

5)      WSU Well # 8 - Rob Corcoran reported that the well log for the new WSU well # 8 is now available on the Washington DOE well log site. 

 

6)      Naylor Farm Update 
Workman said he would convey the well log site information mentioned above to the Naylor Farm representative with the intent of procuring for PBAC a copy of the drilling log from the test hole drilled to the granite basement on the Naylor Farm site.
 

7)      Kirkland reported that he would not be going to the Groundwater Foundation Annual Conference on “Who Gets the Last Drop?” in Las Vegas on November 12-15.  He will try to get access to the conference results and report on relevant findings.

 

8)      NEXT MEETING DATE

The meeting was adjourned by consensus.

Respectfully Submitted,

Larry Kirkland

Note: these minutes are submitted in draft form and have not yet been approved by the Committee.