[Vision2020] Re: Fw: Misinformation from City of Moscow

Wed, 17 Dec 2003 10:16:41 -0800

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Thanks to both Bill London and Bill French for this additional
information. The problem with examining flow rates is that you don't
know when the calibration started to drift, and by how much (or whether
it was never calibrated). This is a problem we face on a daily basis in
the process industries. In the situation where flow meters are
considered critical for operation, data analysis or (especially)
payment, standards are set for calibration checks and re-calibration as
required. It is in situations like this that the ISO standards become
valuable. 

I was curious if there is also an explanation for the stabilized level
in the Moscow wells? When I look at the data from 1997 and compare it to
the 2003 data that were presented, the three wells pulling from the
Grande Ronde aquifer had been stable for the last 7 years. For the
Wanapum aquifer there was one level that went up, and the other went
down.

My understanding was that they change-over in level meters for one or
two of the wells was made 8 years ago (but I have to admit, my notes are
a nearly illegible from the City Council meeting. It was a bit crowded
and every time I pulled out a pen, I nearly knocked over my neighbor).

Any insight here would be helpful.

Thanks

Bill Strand

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-admin@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-admin@moscow.com]
On Behalf Of bill london
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 8:25 AM
To: Bill French
Cc: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Re: Fw: Misinformation from City of Moscow

Bill-
You and Dianne have spent hundreds of volunteer hours in this effort to
preserve our aquifer and raise awarness of local water mining.  Please
know that many people in this community are deeply appreciative of your
work on our behalf.  This latest posting, explaining the oh-so-clever
method used by the city to disguise its over-consumption, is especially
impressive.  Thank you.
BL

Bill French wrote:

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Bill French <mailto:prairiedoc@moscow.com>  
To: lmacdonald@ci.moscow.id.us ; Gary Riedner
<mailto:griedner@moscow.com>  ; Tom <mailto:tscallorn@ci.moscow.id.us>
Scallorn ; Marshall <mailto:comstock@moscow.com>  Comstock ; Steve
<mailto:steveb@moscow.com>  Busch ; Mike Thomason
<mailto:mthomason@avistacorp.com>  ; Peg
<mailto:peg_hamlett@sbcglobal.net>  Hamlett ; Jack
<mailto:jmhill@moscow.com>  Hill ; JoAnn <mailto:jmack@turbonet.com>
Mack ; Jon <mailto:jon@n-k-ins.com>  Kimberling ; Linda
<mailto:lpall@moscow.com>  Pall ; John Dickinson
<mailto:johndickinson@moscow.com>  ; Nancy Chaney
<mailto:nchaney@moscow.com>  ; bocc@latah.id.us ;
staff@moscowchamber.com ; Larry Kirkland <mailto:7kirsch7@msn.com>  ;
editor@dnews.com ; city@lmtribune.com 
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 4:53 PM
Subject: Misinformation from City of Moscow

December 16, 2003
To Whom it May Concern (which should be everybody):
On November 24, 2003, the Moscow City Council held an informational
workshop involving Karl Dreher, Director of IDWR. The advertised purpose
of that meeting was to explore the facts surrounding potential state
designations of critical groundwater and/or groundwater management areas
with regard to Palouse basin aquifers. Public Works Director Les
MacDonald opened the meeting with a series of graphs depicting water use
in Moscow. Several of those graphs showed Moscow's withdrawals actually
decreasing from 1993 to 2002. That was very surprising to those of us
who have been here and watched Moscow's pumping follow a generally
increasing trend. The same graphs were presented at the December 15
joint workshop/hearing with the Moscow City Council and the Latah County
Commissioners.
I now realize the reason behind the surprising data presented by Les
MacDonald. The city of Moscow is actually using two sets of data,
depending on which puts Moscow water consumption in the better light.
The differing data sets result from an adjustment that was made in 1999,
as explained on page 13 of the 1999 Annual Report of the Palouse Basin
Aquifer Committee:
Moscow's annual pumpage figures were adjusted in 1999 because it was
discovered that the meters for Well Nos. 2 and 8 were reading high by 22
percent and 14 percent, respectively. It is not known how long the
meters have been miscalibrated; however because they had never been
calibrated previously, it was assumed that reported quantities of water
pumped have been high since at least 1986, the first year after the base
period. Annual pumpage quantities from 1986 to 1999 were adjusted down
by the percentage pumped by both wells for each year. 
Moscow used the reduced pumpage figures for its reports to PBAC in an
attempt to make its consumption levels more palatable. However, for the
purposes of Les MacDonald's presentation, Moscow was attempting to paint
a picture of gradually reducing consumption from 1993 to 2002. This
purpose was best served by using the original, higher numbers for
1986-1999, and these are the numbers that were used. 
Substituting the adjusted figures in Les MacDonald's graphs paints the
picture of dramatically increasing levels of consumption for Moscow that
reflect reality. For example, when I plotted the "actual" data on
MacDonald's "ANNUAL DATA 1994-2002" graph, the new best-fit "trend line"
is steeply increasing, not slightly decreasing (like MacDonald's
original line). If you'd like a copy of the revised graph, contact me or
stop by my office. My recommendation to the city is that ALL of the
graphs should be re-done by Les MacDonald, using the adjusted numbers
that were reported to PBAC, and distributed to all concerned parties
(Moscow City Council, Latah County Commissioners, news agencies, IDWR,
Chamber of Commerce, etc.) This should be done prior to any decisions by
IDWR, Moscow City Council, Latah County Commissioners, etc.
One additional data point that can now be plotted on these graphs is
Moscow's all-time record pumping for 2003 of 919 million gallons. This
number is based on actual pumping figures through November, plus an
estimate for December (which is based on a slight decrease in pumping in
December, compared to November, for the last two years). This is a
dramatic increase over the previous three years - and in a year when the
Moscow City Council enacted "voluntary watering restrictions" . . .
"with a gun to their heads." Go figure! (Apparently Moscow can't).
As a side note, Moscow has a long history of blaming its overconsumption
on faulty water meters. As stated above, 12 years of data were altered
in 1999. More recently, claims are being made that mineral deposits are
causing "over registration" in the meters recording Moscow's pumping
volumes. At the same time, "under registration" in residential meters is
being targeted as a cause for Moscow's alarmingly high level of
unaccounted-for water. If the City of Moscow put as much effort into
coming up with solutions as they put into coming up with excuses, our
problems might have been solved by now.
Bill French
883-3937
prairiedoc@moscow.com

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<body bgcolor=3Dwhite lang=3DEN-US link=3Dblue vlink=3Dblue =
style=3D'tab-interval:.5in'>

<div class=3DSection1>

Thanks to both Bill London and Bill =
French
for this additional information. The problem with examining flow rates =
is that
you don&#8217;t know when the calibration started to drift,
and by how much (or whether it was never calibrated). This is a problem =
we face
on a daily basis in the process industries. In the situation where flow =
meters
are considered critical for operation, data analysis or (especially) =
payment,
standards are set for calibration checks and re-calibration as required. =
It is
in situations like this that the ISO standards become valuable. =
<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

I was curious if there is also an
explanation for the stabilized level in the =
<st1:City><st1:place>Moscow</st1:place></st1:City> wells? When I look at the data from 1997 and compare it to =
the
2003 data that were presented, the three wells pulling from the Grande =
Ronde aquifer had been stable for the last 7 =
years. For the
Wanapum aquifer there was one level that =
went up, and
the other went down.<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

My understanding was that they =
change-over
in level meters for one or two of the wells was made 8 years ago (but I =
have to
admit, my notes are a nearly illegible from the City Council meeting. It =
was a
bit crowded and every time I pulled out a pen, I nearly knocked over my
neighbor).<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Any insight here would be =
helpful.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Thanks<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Bill =
Strand<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DTahoma><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:windowtext'>-----Origi=
nal
Message-----<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> =
vision2020-admin@moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-admin@moscow.com] <b><span =
style=3D'font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>bill london<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, December =
17, 2003
8:25 AM<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Bill French<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Cc:</span></b> =
vision2020@moscow.com<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Vision2020] Re: =
Fw:
Misinformation from City of Moscow</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>Bill-<br>
You and Dianne have spent hundreds of volunteer hours in this effort to =
preserve
our aquifer and raise awarness of local water mining.&nbsp; Please know =
that
many people in this community are deeply appreciative of your work on =
our
behalf.&nbsp; This latest posting, explaining the oh-so-clever method =
used by
the city to disguise its over-consumption, is especially =
impressive.&nbsp;
Thank you.<br>
BL<br>
<br>
Bill French wrote:<br style=3D'mso-special-character:line-break'>
<![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]><br =
style=3D'mso-special-character:line-break'>
<![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

<div style=3D'font-stretch: normal;font-size-adjust: none'>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>----- =
Original
Message ----- <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<div style=3D'-moz-background-clip: =
initial;-moz-background-inline-policy: initial;
-moz-background-origin: =
initial;background-attachment:scroll;background-position-x:
0%;background-position-y:50%'>

<p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'margin-left:.5in;background:#E4E4E4'><b><font size=3D2
color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=3D2 =
face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <a
href=3D"mailto:prairiedoc@moscow.com" =
title=3D"prairiedoc@moscow.com">Bill French</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

<div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>To:</span><=
/font></b><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <a
href=3D"mailto:lmacdonald@ci.moscow.id.us" =
title=3D"lmacdonald@ci.moscow.id.us">lmacdonald@ci.moscow.id.us</a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:griedner@moscow.com" =
title=3D"griedner@moscow.com">Gary Riedner</a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:tscallorn@ci.moscow.id.us" =
title=3D"tscallorn@ci.moscow.id.us">Tom
Scallorn</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:comstock@moscow.com" =
title=3D"comstock@moscow.com">Marshall
Comstock</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:steveb@moscow.com" =
title=3D"steveb@moscow.com">Steve
Busch</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:mthomason@avistacorp.com"
title=3D"mthomason@avistacorp.com">Mike Thomason</a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:peg_hamlett@sbcglobal.net" =
title=3D"peg_hamlett@sbcglobal.net">Peg
Hamlett</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:jmhill@moscow.com" =
title=3D"jmhill@moscow.com">Jack
Hill</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:jmack@turbonet.com" =
title=3D"jmack@turbonet.com">JoAnn
Mack</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:jon@n-k-ins.com" =
title=3D"jon@n-k-ins.com">Jon
Kimberling</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:lpall@moscow.com" =
title=3D"lpall@moscow.com">Linda
Pall</a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:johndickinson@moscow.com"
title=3D"johndickinson@moscow.com">John Dickinson</a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:nchaney@moscow.com" title=3D"nchaney@moscow.com">Nancy =
Chaney</a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:bocc@latah.id.us" =
title=3D"bocc@latah.id.us">bocc@latah.id.us</a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:staff@moscowchamber.com" =
title=3D"staff@moscowchamber.com">staff@moscowchamber.com</a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:7kirsch7@msn.com" title=3D"7kirsch7@msn.com">Larry =
Kirkland</a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:editor@dnews.com" =
title=3D"editor@dnews.com">editor@dnews.com</a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:city@lmtribune.com" =
title=3D"city@lmtribune.com">city@lmtribune.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

<div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span=
></font></b><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> Tuesday,
December 16, 2003 4:53 PM<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

<div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Subject:</s=
pan></font></b><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>
Misinformation from City of Moscow<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

</div>

<div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

<div>

<p style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack =
face=3D"Bookman Old Style"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style"'>December 16, =
2003</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack =
face=3D"Bookman Old Style"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style"'>To Whom it =
May Concern
(which should be everybody):</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

On November =
24, 2003,
the Moscow City Council held an informational workshop involving Karl =
Dreher, Director
of IDWR. The advertised purpose of that meeting was to explore the facts
surrounding potential state designations of critical groundwater and/or
groundwater management areas with regard to Palouse basin aquifers. =
Public
Works Director Les MacDonald opened the meeting with a series of graphs
depicting water use in Moscow. Several of those graphs showed =
Moscow&#8217;s
withdrawals actually decreasing from 1993 to 2002. That was very =
surprising to
those of us who have been here and watched Moscow&#8217;s pumping follow =
a
generally increasing trend. The same graphs were presented at the =
December 15
joint workshop/hearing with the Moscow City Council and the Latah County
Commissioners.<o:p></o:p>

I now realize =
the
reason behind the surprising data presented by Les MacDonald. The city =
of
Moscow is actually using two sets of data, depending on which puts =
Moscow water
consumption in the better light. The differing data sets result from an
adjustment that was made in 1999, as explained on page 13 of the 1999 =
Annual
Report of the Palouse Basin Aquifer =
Committee:<o:p></o:p>

Moscow&#8217;s annual
pumpage figures were adjusted in 1999 because it was discovered that the =
meters
for Well Nos. 2 and 8 were reading high by 22 percent and 14 percent,
respectively. It is not known how long the meters have been =
miscalibrated;
however because they had never been calibrated previously, it was =
assumed that
reported quantities of water pumped have been high since at least 1986, =
the
first year after the base period. Annual pumpage quantities from 1986 to =
1999
were adjusted down by the percentage pumped by both wells for each year. =
<o:p></o:p>

Moscow used =
the
reduced pumpage figures for its reports to PBAC in an attempt to make =
its
consumption levels more palatable. However, for the purposes of Les
MacDonald&#8217;s presentation, Moscow was attempting to paint a picture =
of
gradually reducing =
consumption
from 1993 to 2002. This purpose was best served by using the original, =
higher
numbers for 1986-1999, and these are the numbers that were used. =
<o:p></o:p>

Substituting =
the
adjusted figures in Les MacDonald&#8217;s graphs paints the picture of
dramatically increasing =
levels of
consumption for Moscow that reflect reality. For example, when I plotted =
the
&quot;actual&quot; data on MacDonald&#8217;s &quot;ANNUAL DATA =
1994-2002&quot;
graph, the new best-fit &quot;trend line&quot; is steeply increasing, =
not
slightly decreasing (like MacDonald&#8217;s original line). If =
you&#8217;d like
a copy of the revised graph, contact me or stop by my office. My =
recommendation
to the city is that ALL of the graphs should be re-done by Les =
MacDonald, using
the adjusted numbers that were reported to PBAC, and distributed to all
concerned parties (Moscow City Council, Latah County Commissioners, news
agencies, IDWR, Chamber of Commerce, etc.) This should be done prior to any decisions by IDWR, =
Moscow
City Council, Latah County Commissioners, =
etc.<o:p></o:p>

One =
additional data
point that can now be plotted on these graphs is Moscow&#8217;s all-time =
record
pumping for 2003 of 919 million gallons. This number is based on actual =
pumping
figures through November, plus an estimate for December (which is based =
on a
slight decrease in pumping in December, compared to November, for the =
last two
years). This is a dramatic increase over the previous three years =
&#8211; and
in a year when the Moscow City Council enacted &quot;voluntary watering =
restrictions&quot;
. . . &quot;with a gun to their heads.&quot; Go figure! (Apparently =
Moscow
can&#8217;t).<o:p></o:p>

As a side =
note, Moscow
has a long history of blaming its overconsumption on faulty water =
meters. As
stated above, 12 years of data were altered in 1999. More recently, =
claims are
being made that mineral deposits are causing &quot;over =
registration&quot; in
the meters recording Moscow&#8217;s pumping volumes. At the same time,
&quot;under registration&quot; in residential meters is being targeted =
as a
cause for Moscow&#8217;s alarmingly high level of unaccounted-for water. =
If the
City of Moscow put as much effort into coming up with solutions&nbsp;as =
they
put into coming up with excuses, our problems might have been solved by =
now.<o:p></o:p>

<p style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack =
face=3D"Bookman Old Style"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style"'>Bill =
French</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack =
face=3D"Bookman Old Style"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old =
Style"'>883-3937</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack =
face=3D"Bookman Old Style"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style"'><a
href=3D"mailto:prairiedoc@moscow.com">prairiedoc@moscow.com</a></span></f=
ont><o:p></o:p></p>

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