U.S. Water News Online
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Some residents are chafing from the proposal to ban outdoor watering to help stop the decline in the city's groundwater levels.
The plan to be considered by the Moscow City Council was negotiated between the city and an environmental coalition led by the Palouse Water Conservation Network.
Brent Harken has a home with a large residential garden. He said he is concerned about preserving Moscow for future generations, but thinks the coalition demands are too drastic.
``Being a good steward is just wise, but being force-fed water regulations on faulty data is just premature,'' he said. ``It's not like we're L.A.''
Coalition leaders approached the city two weeks ago saying they would petition state regulators to take control of the city's groundwater unless the council immediately stemmed the decline in the deep aquifer wells.
Moscow can go from pumping 1.5 million gallons per day in winter to 5 million in summer.
In addition to a ban on daytime watering, the proposal would have the council pay for a conservation plan to gradually bring the city back in line with voluntary pumping limits exceeded for several years.
The conservation network is concerned about an annual drop of 18 inches that has been recorded in deep wells for as long as measurements have been taken. The question of how much water is available has never been answered.
Moscow pledged in 1992, through participation in the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee, to stop the decline by capping pumping to 25 percent more than the city extracted in the early 1980s.
Moscow was 1 million gallons below the target last year, but around 100 million gallons above that mark in each of the three previous years. The conservation coalition wants the city to make up for the years it has exceeded the target.
The plan calls for the city to save 90 million gallons per year for each of the next eight years.
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields