A Review of Palouse Area Water Workings
HIS VIEW: Palouse Basin aquifer system and the bucket
By Steve Robischon
Published: 05-26-2006
Regarding the May 20 Daily News article, “Aquifer stabilization could be years away,” I’ve come to understand that the Palouse Basin aquifer system is a complex beast, and that communicating specific details about the system in sound or word bites is difficult.
Please note that the ideas that follow are representative of my personal views and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee.
Consider if you will, two simple concepts.
First, envision the aquifer system as a large, buried bucket, filled with different types of sediment, rock layers and water, and covered with a blanket of Palouse soil known as loess.
Thanks in part to research funded by the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee (PBAC), we know a lot about what types of rocks are in the bucket, how deep they are, and where the water lies within the bucket.
We also know how much water falls onto the surface, and that the cracks and spaces between the rocks in the upper part of the bucket are able to hold some of that water. How much of the water makes its way down to the lower levels of the bucket is not certain.
We have a good idea of how much water we humans are pumping out of the bucket, but we are not sure whether the bucket might also be leaking.
So, we know more about the bucket than we used to, but we still don’t understand everything about how it works.
Second, think of a sustainable water supply as being like a balanced checkbook. To maintain a water level balance, water “checks” written against the aquifer must be offset by equivalent water “deposits.”
If the water “balance” begins to fall, we can either write fewer checks or increase deposits. We might write fewer checks by employing more conservation, efficiency, and reuse measures. Or we might increase water deposits in the winter and spring months by capturing and utilizing some of the excess water that currently flows unused to the ocean.
So, there are things we might do to help balance our water checkbook.
At this high level, management of the aquifer system appears straightforward. But as with any complex system, the devil is in the details. For example, some will call for focus on cutting demand (writing fewer checks), while others will prefer to increase supply (increasing deposits). And no one wants to spend more than necessary to achieve the proper balance. Somewhere out there might be hiding a solution package that all Palouse residents can live with.
PBAC’s mission is “to ensure a long-term, quality water supply for the Palouse Basin region.” PBAC’s members, representing Moscow, Pullman and Colfax, Latah and Whitman counties, UI and WSU, are all dedicated to the identification and implementation of management approaches that will keep our water budget in balance for the long term.
PBAC cannot address water management issues alone. PBAC is partnering with groups such as the Citizens Advisory Group, the WRIA-34 Planning Unit, IDWR and WDOE, and the UI Water of the West program to craft a water management plan that will meet the needs of all Palouse residents, today and into the future.
There is much work to be done before we can feel confident that our water checkbook is balanced. Some difficult decisions will need to be made, and they most certainly will involve extended discussions among concerned members of the Palouse community. It will be no small task, but I believe that if we all work together and keep our eyes on the target, we’ll be able to realize a future in which our water supply is not a problem, but just another good thing about living on the Palouse.
Steve Robischon is the executive manager of the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee.