March 15, 2001
Meeting Minutes
University of
Idaho, McClure Hall Rm. 411
|
X |
UI: Larry Kirkland,
Facilities Engineer |
X |
WSU: Craig Benjamin
(Chair), Assistant Director of Facilities Operations |
|
X |
UI: Jay Becker
(Vice-Chair), Assistant Director, Utilities and Engineering |
|
WSU: Pete Grigas,
Facilities Planning |
|
X |
Moscow: Tom Scallorn,
Water Dept. Superintendent |
X |
Pullman: Mark Workman,
Dir. Public Works |
|
|
Moscow: Steve Busch, City
Council Member |
|
Pullman: Sue Hinz, City
Council Member |
|
|
Latah County: Loreca
Stauber, County Commissioner |
X |
Whitman County: Jerry
Finch, County Commissioner |
|
X |
Latah County: Tom
Townsend, citizen |
X |
Whitman County: Derek
Pohle, County Engineer |
|
X |
Executive Secretary and
Technical Advisor: Juliet McKenna |
|
|
Bill French (Moscow resident), Roy Mink (Idaho Water Resources Research Institute), Kathleen Warnick (Latah County resident), Jirendra Virsarma (UI), Diwakas Kumar (UI), Naohi Tojo (UI)
Craig Benjamin (Chair) called the meeting to order at 2:30 P.M. Minutes were approved as distributed.
Subcommittee 1- Technical (feasibility and costs of
various projects, etc)
Scallorn, Garro, Kirkland, Busch
L. Kirkland handed out a memo suggesting priorities for the subcommittee. More will be discussed at the next meeting.
Subcommittee 2 – Administrative (role of PBAC vs.
entities, legal authority of PBAC, etc)
Becker, Grigas/Benjamin, Workman, Townsend
C. Benjamin solicited comments on entities paying PBAC operational fees in proportion to the amount of groundwater pumped each year. For example, if a fee of $6/100,000 gallons were assessed, then WSU would pay $34,000 based on pumping of 573 million gallons in 2000. Counties would still be assessed a set fee because there is no way to account for pumping in unincorporated areas. L. Kirkland thought this makes sense because it establishes a mechanism to raise capital when it is needed in the future, and creates an incentive to use water more efficiently. Noted, because the Wanapum is thin beneath Pullman, Pullman and WSU do not appear to have the option to reduce pumping the Grande Ronde by pumping from the Wanapum. J. Becker will present one or more proposals for how to structure this type of fee at the next meeting.
The legal review from the UI is completed. WSU is incorporating comments and formatting it appropriately. Then the document will be finalized and distributed for signatures.
A draft of the GMP Update was sent to PBAC representatives for review. Comments are requested by March 30, 2001.
Action Plan Compliance Reports have been received by all Entities except Whitman and Latah Counties. Because the deadline has passed, the Annual Report will be published with the compliance reports from the four other entities, and without the County compliance reports.
Updated Action Plans were completed by Moscow and Latah County in 2000, and WSU and UI in 2001. Pullman and Whitman County should update their action plans by May 1, 2001, for inclusion in the Groundwater Management Plan.
Idaho –The budget request for $100,000 was approved unanimously by the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) in February. Final approval needs to come from the legislature when the final budget is passed.
Washington – There was nothing new to report on the status of the request from Washington. After the recent Olympia-Seattle area earthquake, C. Benjamin is not optimistic for the chances to receive funding in light of the damage to the capitol building and other areas in western Washington.
A draft of the Annual Report was distributed to PBAC representatives for review. Comments are requested by March 19. The Committee decided to publish 300 copies of the report in two color (black and white, plus blue), which is about 150 more copies than previous years. Most of the cost of the report is in design and printing press set-up. The report will be available at the next meeting. L. Kirkland recommended that a brief executive summary be added to the beginning of the report.
Roy Mink and Craig Benjamin are still discussing options for part-time contract work through IWRRI, that may enable a search for a person who can work full-time (part-time with PBAC and part-time with IWRRI). A staffing subcommittee was set up at the January 2001 meeting. Craig Benjamin will follow up with subcommittee members.
The budget was discussed and there will be a moderate negative balance at the end of the fiscal year, which PBAC will try to eliminate in the following year. The actual numbers will be available in July at the end of the fiscal year.
The Moscow Water Department is organizing an Open House at the water treatment plant on May 9 from 12 to 7 in recognition of Drinking Water Week. It will include a kids poster contest, free food and drink, free water conservation devices, and tours of the facility.
J. McKenna is working with the City of Pullman to include water conservation tips in the may issue of Community Update (monthly city publication) and to prepare a flyer with summer water use tips for inclusion in the May water bill. She also requested that Mark Workman look into a workshop on low water use plantings at Lawson Garden’s Xeriscape Demonstration Garden.
Ted McDonough of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News is working on an article about local water conservation efforts.
PBAC will have a table at the upcoming UI Internship Fair on March 28 for local summer internships. Moscow Water Department will use the space to advertise for a water conservation intern. Other entities should contact J. McKenna if they have a position to advertise.
Moscow – T. Scallorn reported that Moscow will be pulling the pump for Well 6 this week and will be videologging the well and retrofitting it with a tube that will allow access for a water level indicator. Dianne French, representing the Moscow Health and Environment Commission, made a presentation to the Public Works Committee of the Moscow City Council requesting consideration of several water conservation measures including an updated water bill and tiered water rates. S. Busch, Council President, agreed to set a date for a “study session” on local water issues for the City Council.
Pullman – M. Workman reported that a 48-hour pump test was conducted on the new Well 7. Static water level is approximately 250 ft deep and after 48 hours of pumping between 3,000 and 3,100 gpm, maximum drawdown was approximately 7 feet. John Bush has received borehole cuttings from the consultant on the project and is in the process of interpreting the stratigraphy and getting geochemical analyses of select samples.
Other –D. Pohle mentioned that he has had inquiries as to how the drought in Washington State will affect local water supplies. Locally, the drought will not directly affect the groundwater supplies in the basalt aquifers, although lack of rainfall may affect some wells that pump from granite in Latah County.
J. McKenna asked if the Committee would be interested in participating in a field trip to look at potential recharge areas along Paradise Creek in Latah County. There seemed to be sufficient interest so this will be arranged. T. Townsend noted to include Ken Stinson on this trip.
Washington State Department of Ecology published a report on Water Reclamation in the State. It is 16 pages long and includes a description of five projects that are in operation reusing treated wastewater. There is also a summary of the current regulations and concerns with water reclamation. It includes the Pullman-WSU project on a list of planned projects in the state. Copies can be obtained at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0010062.html or by contacting PBAC.
Landon Beck has completed a GPS survey of well locations and elevations in the basin. He surveyed all city and university wells in addition to numerous other monitoring points in Whitman County. Elevations are accurate to within 0.1 m. A copy of the survey is available by contacting PBAC.
L. Kirkland reported that there is discussion of a joint UI-WSU dairy farm. It is dependent upon getting federal funding and if all goes well, land acquisition may begin in a year or two. At this time, the preferred location is north of the airport. Larry felt confident that if the best available technology was used, the proposed 1000 head operation should not use more water than the current UI and WSU operations combined, even though there would be more cows. Because of the high water use potential, PBAC will follow the development of this issue.
PBAC received a letter from the Whitman County Planning Commission. The letter and PBAC’s reply is attached to these minutes.
Thursday, April 19,
2001 at 2:30 pm
McClure Hall Room 411
The meeting was adjourned by consensus.
Respectfully Submitted,
Juliet M. McKenna
Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor