Meeting Minutes
August 12, 1999
University of Idaho McClure Hall #304
Steve Busch (Moscow), Sue Hinz (Pullman), Gary
Presol (Moscow), Loreca Stauber (Latah County), Les Wigen (Whitman County)
Reports and
Announcements:
A) PBAC
Budget Review: Peggy Hammel-IWRRI: S. Gill informed the committee that
Peggy Hammel could not be present at today’s meeting. Peggy did confirm that she would attend the September PBAC
meeting at which time she will discuss the budgetary system presently in use at
the University of Idaho. M. Workman
suggested that the Executive Secretary include a copy of the most up-to-date
budget with the September Agenda so that committee members may prepare
questions beforehand.
B) WDOE Well Final Cost: S. Gill reported that Burns Well Drilling of Grangeville, Idaho has
submitted a final invoice of $4,568.90 for
cleaning out the WDOE well, which represents a savings of $431.10 over the
original estimate.
C) Water Level Data Loggers: Dr. Jim Osiensky introduced
Landon Beck to the PBAC. Mr. Beck will
be one of the graduate students who will be working on the Osiensky-Keller
Project.
S. Gill distributed a chart showing water level in
the WDOE well from July 2nd to August 11th using the new In-Situ Troll 4000
data loggers. Water levels were
recorded every 30 minutes and the data reveals what appears to be pumping
influences from Pullman and Moscow reflected in the Grande Ronde water
level. Dr. Osiensky noted that with the
new data loggers much more accurate short-term water level information would be
available for analysis; however, the addition of another 10 data loggers would
further enhance the analysis of the Basin’s hydraulic characteristics.
L. Kirkland recommended that OK Project review their
current proposal and develop an optimal project budget accounting for such
things as additional data loggers, geophysical analysis, and GPS (Global Positioning
System) analysis. He then recommended
that they approach the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) for
additional funding. L. Kirkland
recommended that he, S. Gill, and J. McKenna work with Drs. Osiensky and Keller
in preparing a preliminary funding proposal for Roy Mink to deliver to
IDWR.
Dr. Roy Mink, IWRRI, stated
that he would be in Boise the week of August 23rd and that he would
gladly lobby the IDWR for PBAC’s funding request.
Osiensky-Keller Research Project: Dr. Osiensky presented a copy of the O-K Project’s
Milestones and Deliverables to the PBAC.
C. Benjamin noted that the document seems complete and his only
suggestion would be to move the Deliverables section to the end of the
document.
S. Gill is compiling a list of wells in each of the different aquifers
for Dr. Osiensky to begin monitoring.
A)
Preliminary Results of Robin Nimmer’s Infiltration Study:
Jim
Osiensky and Robin Nimmer conducted a small scale infiltration test in the
College of Agriculture cow pasture, west the University of Idaho
Groundwater
Research Site. The injection well is 6
inches in diameter, cased
through
the sediments to the top of the basalt, about 8 feet below land surface
(BLS),
and is open hole to the bottom at about 15 feet BLS.
Approximately
37 liters of water were injected into the well, raising the water level to the
bottom of the casing. After
approximately 24 hours the water level
dropped only about 3 feet and took a few weeks to fully recover to original levels. It is thought that the very slow infiltration rate is primarily due to the low hydraulic conductivity of the clay filled fractures within the upper surface of the basalt. These fractures can be seen in an outcrop a few hundred feet northwest of the site.
B) Vision 2020 Bulletin Board:
S. Gill handed
out a copy of 2 e-mails that recently appeared in Moscow’s Vision 2020 bulletin
board. The e-mails questioned PBAC’s
involvement with land use and planning issues on the Palouse. The emails are reprinted below:
From: "John Murray" jbiggs50@hotmail.com To: vision2020@moscow.com Subject:
Palouse aquifier Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 15:39:51 PDT
Local News Items:
1. City of Moscow approves large development north of
town, including over 100 new dwelling units.
2. Whitman County
approves 56-acre industrial park north of Pullman.
In either case, impacts on the future of the Palouse
regional aquifer system were not addressed.
Rather, both project reviews took the position that either the State was
the responsible agency for review (Washington), or that until there was an
emergency declared, the City had no authority to condition aquifer impact
mitigation (Moscow). This is an
important regional issue. A regional
task force was formed some time ago, the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee. Why isn't this committee becoming involved
in land use planning? Does anyone think
this is important?
From: Greg Brown gregb@alaskapacific.edu Reply-To: gregb@alaskapacific.edu
To: vision2020@moscow.com Subject: Re: Palouse aquifer Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 03:26:21 -0800
The issue is extremely important.
As I remember (bad starting point for this
discussion), the two cities and the two universities entered into a cooperative
agreement to manage (and presumably, limit, if necessary) consumption from the
aquifer. As I remember, the guidelines
were based on % increase rather than absolute volume (a dubious conservation
standard for aquifers). The voluntary
agreement looked good on paper (hey, look at us State and EPA--we're doing
something!) but was ignored during my time in Moscow. The City Council blinked on every development issue that came
before them as if development and water usage are unrelated.
What happened to the 4-way agreement between the 2
universities and cities?
Greg Brown, Associate Professor (gregb@alaskapacific.edu)
Alaska Pacific University
(907) 564-8267 Fax: (907) 562-4276
M. Workman questioned what should be
PBAC’s response?
L. Kirkland stated that S. Gill should
develop a response to these concerns.
L. Kirkland noted that the response should address the committee’s
historical background, the fact that water right application permits are
presently being forwarded to the PBAC prior to approval by either IDWR or WDOE,
the 1998 Palouse Basin Annual Water-Use Report, and the 3-year financial
commitment to the OK Project.
C. Benjamin noted that currently each
individual entity is under self-imposed pumping limits. In addition, the recent substantial
financial commitment by the PBAC to the Osiensky-Keller Project is further
evidence of how the PBAC is seeking answers to the question of how much water
is available and what is a sustainable pumping limit for the Palouse Basin.
2:30 PM
Thursday
September 16, 1999
University of Idaho McClure Hall Room 304
Respectfully
Submitted,
Juliet McKenna
for
Steve W. Gill,
Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor