July 20, 2000 Meeting Minutes
University of
Idaho, McClure Hall Rm. 411
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UI: Larry Kirkland,
Facilities Engineer |
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WSU: Craig Benjamin
(Chair), Assistant Director of Facilities Operations |
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UI: Jay Becker
(Vice-Chair), Assistant Director, Utilities and Engineering |
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WSU: Robert Hengst,
Engineering Services Manager |
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Moscow: Gary Presol, Dir.
Public Works |
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Pullman: Mark Workman,
Dir. Public Works |
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Moscow: Steve Busch, City
Council Member |
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Pullman: Sue Hinz, City
Council Member |
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Latah County: Loreca
Stauber, County Commissioner |
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Whitman County: Les Wigen,
County Commissioner |
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Latah County: Tom
Townsend, citizen |
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Whitman County: Derek
Pohle, County Engineer |
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Executive Secretary and
Technical Advisor: Juliet McKenna |
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Bill French (citizen, Moscow), Helena Gregory (UI student and PBAC Summer Conservation Coordinator), Terry Schierman (City of Pullman Water Department), Jim Osiensky (UI), Landon Beck (UI), Eddy Teasdale (UI), Diane Hopster (UI), Kent Keller (WSU), Roy Mink (Idaho Water Resources Research Institute and UI)
Chair Craig Benjamin called the meeting to order at 2:35 PM. Minutes were approved with minor editorial changes. J. Becker motioned to approve the minutes and D. Pohle seconded; motion passed unanimously.
Kent Keller, WSU
hydrology professor, began by presenting two cross sections (one of Moscow area
and one of Pullman area) that were completed by his graduate student, Alex
Kirk, using available well logs. The cross sections show subsurface lithology
in addition to well construction information and will be used by the project
team to identify wells that can be monitored during aquifer tests, and that can
be sampled for isotopic analysis.
Diane Hopster, UI
graduate student, presented results from her work on mapping and measuring
baseflow discharge of springs along Union Flat Creek and South Fork of
the Palouse River in Whitman County, Washington. The slope of the time-discharge plot for a given spring provides
information on the size of the area being drained: the steeper the slope, the
smaller the area of the contributing
groundwater basin. This information can
then be used to compare relative
lengths of flowlines for the measured
springs.
Landon Beck, UI
graduate student, presented nearly a year of results from monitoring water
levels in up to 12 wells simultaneously around the basin. The purpose of his research is (1) to
measure water level changes around the basin in response to ongoing pumping,
and (2) to conduct opportunistic pump tests using municipal wells while
monitoring the responses in non-pumping wells around the basin. Two such pump tests were conducted since
March 2000. The first test involved
pumping Pullman and WSU Grande Ronde (deep) wells for 6 hours. Monitoring wells outside the city limits
(from less than 2 miles away to as far away as Palouse, Albion, Colfax, and
Moscow) showed no response. The other
test involved pumping Moscow and UI Grande Ronde wells for 12 hours. Wanapum (shallow) wells in the Moscow area
showed no measurable response. The
water level dropped 0.7 feet in one Grande Ronde well located halfway between
Moscow and Pullman (“the DOE well”).
Possible explanations for these results include: 1) the GR may not be
well interconnected on a basin-wide scale; 2) the aquifers respond differently
in Pullman than in Moscow; and 3) Moscow may be pulling groundwater from the
west (towards Pullman) to supply water to its wells.
Jim Osiensky, UI
hydrology professor, stated that groundwater pumping has significantly altered
the regional gradient. Instead of
calling upon geologic barriers (i.e. folds and faults in the aquifer units), he
thinks that aquifer responses can be explained by perturbations to the regional
gradient due to municipal groundwater pumping.
The Snake River functions a sink for groundwater in the Grande Ronde
aquifer, and the reason there are so few springs visible in the canyon walls
may be because hydraulic gradient in the aquifer has reached a steady state
with the elevation of the Snake River.
J. McKenna reported that she is working on an update to the Plan, and will incorporate the new goals and timeline approved by the Committee earlier this year. A draft will be distributed for review when it is complete.
Roy Mink of Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI) on the UI campus has indicated that he is willing to request money for basin research from the state through his proposed budget. J. McKenna is working with Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) to get the request in their budget, thereby increasing the chances of obtaining funding by submitting two separate requests. The Treasure Valley (Boise area) obtained funding from the state for their multi-year groundwater research project through a similar approach. Funding obtained this year would be available next fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2001.
L. Kirkland wondered if Roy knew of other funding sources available to PBAC, for example the USGS. Although he doesn’t know of any currently available federal funds that are applicable to the PBAC, Roy said that next year there may be some national money available through the Water Resource Research Institute (WRRI), and that he and Claudio Stockle of Washington WRRI at WSU may be able to pursue these funds jointly.
J. McKenna reported that Moscow wrote a letter on behalf of PBAC requesting COE assistance with a new basin water resource study. The next step is to have a meeting with COE personnel, and she encouraged all interested PBAC members to participate in this process. Details on the meeting will be provided when available.
L. Kirkland reported that he spoke with Al Ames of the Clearwater Economic Development Association about obtaining funding for groundwater research. Larry was told that since Latah County has pulled out of the Association, there was no help available to PBAC.
Helena Gregory presented the Conservation Coordinator update. Activities completed to date include:
1. Creation of display materials for a PBAC Booth and attendance at one Moscow Farmer's Market.
2. Update PBAC water conservation brochure. Brochures are being printed.
3. Meet with City of Moscow to learn about budget and staff for conservation efforts, water audit programs, the biggest water consumers, and the low water use fixture distribution program.
4. Meet with City of Pullman to learn about any conservation programs in place, availability of funds and staff in the future, the biggest water consumers, bill stuffers, and the possibility of initiating water audit and fixture distribution programs.
5. Obtain a list of major water consumers in Pullman for preparation of water audits.
J. McKenna reported that she made a presentation at the Pullman Environmental Quality Commission meeting on July 13 to present ways in which the commission could help the city implement water conservation programs. She discussed adding messages and flyers to the water bills, conservation water and sewer rates, and educational programs in the community and asked for their continued support as these programs evolve in the city.
·
M.
Workman: Pullman will have a “Conserve
Water” notice with water conservation tips in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News due
to peak demand exceeding system capacity on several occasions this summer. Major water users include apartment
complexes and the school district. C. Benjamin suggested contacting Sue Hinz to
distribute this announcement to the WSU campus.
·
D.
Pohle: Whitman County has created a
Water Conservancy Board and the Board of County Commissioners appointed three
board members and one alternate. The
Board will review and make recommendations to the Washington State Department
of Ecology on water right transfer applications in the county. DOE then has 45
days to review the recommendation, at which time if there is not comment from
DOE, the recommended action goes through. DOE has encouraged the formation of
these boards statewide as a means to alleviate some of the gridlock in the
water right transfer system.
· T. Scallorn: Moscow Water Department will have a water conservation display in the Chamber of Commerce window during the month of August. There will also be water conservation tips in an upcoming “Ad Mart” publication. The city has been working with the curricula coordinator for the Moscow Public Schools to incorporate water use and conservation into lesson plans.
· C. Benjamin: WSU is advertising for an energy efficiency manager, whose job responsibilities will also include water conservation. J. Becker noted that UI is also advertising for a similar position.
· G. Presol noted that while on a recent trip to Great Britain, he noticed water conservation is pervasive. For example, showers have a wall heater unit to reduce the time it takes to heat up the water, and toilets have a feature that allows variable quantities of water to be used for each flush.
The original Intergovernmental (IG) Agreement signed by six entities was valid for 10 years and expired in 1998. A draft form to renew this agreement was mailed to PBAC members for review. After review, several members suggested it would be more thorough to simply update and sign the original IG Agreement. J. McKenna will update it, and pass it on to J. Becker for revision. A draft updated Agreement will be distributed to PBAC members prior to the next meeting. Once all members have reviewed and approved it, it will be signed by all entities.
L. Kirkland was concerned that the original agreement excludes PBAC from certain activities that may be desired in the future (i.e. owning property, purchasing capital, etc). In the interest of time, it was generally agreed to quickly renew the original IG Agreement and to create a new Agreement in the future if the need arose.
August 17,
2000 at 2:30 pm in
McClure Hall
Room 411.
The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 4:10 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Juliet M. McKenna
Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor