[Vision2020] Naylor Farms

[Bill London]

Moscow Civic Association members request intervenor status regarding
Naylor Farms

    Kelly Moore and Lois Blackburn, members of the Board of Directors of
the
Moscow Civic Association, have submitted separate applications to the
Idaho
Department of Water Resources as intervenors in the request by Naylor
Farms
for rights to very large amounts of water from the Palouse Basin
aquifers.
    Moore and Blackburn were motivated to apply to intervene by their
desire to
represent local public interests, many of which have possibly not been
considered in secret negotiations between Naylor Farms and the city
officials of Moscow and Pullman.
     In a special meeting of the Moscow City Council on Monday, April
28, the first public meeting regarding the Naylor Farms issue, city
officials outlined a detailed protocol that they hope will become
conditions that Naylor Farms must meet in order to acquire and keep
their extensive water rights.
    During a period opened to public comment, several citizens
demonstrated concerns about the following:
1. How the protocol can address the problems when so little is known
about
the aquifers;
2. How this protocol could be enforced;
3. Why the city would bear one-half of the expense of monitoring the
effect
of this massive water withdrawal, and if this expense would be repeated
for
future such applications;
4. The impracticality of irrigation because of the nature of the soil
and
steep hills;
5. The admitted planned use of part of the water for industrial
purposes;
6. Why the application is even being considered in view of our illegal
mining of our aquifer (withdrawal at a greater rate than natural
replenishment, resulting in the aquifer going down 1 1/2 feet per year).

    Moore and Blackburn are hoping to intervene at a public hearing in
order to
ensure that these and other public concerns will be considered in any
decision about the Naylor Farms application.