[Vision2020] [Spam] The (New) Troy Reservoir

[lfalen]

A reservoir for Moscow is definitely and option that should be explored.

Roger
-----Original message-----
From: Steven Basoa sbasoa at moscow.com
Date: Wed, 09 Aug 2006 12:27:46 -0700
To: Vision 2020 vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Spam] [Vision2020] The (New) Troy Reservoir

> Kudos to the Troy founders for their foresight and to the current  
> Troy officials for their planning.  The following article (from the  
> Moscow-Pullman Daily news) details how the town of Troy may go about  
> dealing with their water issues.   The potential for building a  
> reservoir for Moscow has been mentioned (on v2020) several times.  I  
> do not know if the city officials are even considering this idea.   
> Considering the uncertainty of our aquifers, the time for studying  
> this option is long past due.  The city wouldn't even have to hire  
> outside consultants.  We have an excellent Geological Sciences  
> department at the UI.  One would think/hope that the city and the  
> university would be eager to work together on such a project.  The  
> potential benefits could be enormous.  It would be sad times for  
> Moscow should the wells ever run dry.
> 
> *******
> 
> TACKLING THE WATER ISSUE
> 
> Troy community leaders express need for new reservoir
> 
> By Ryan Bentley, Daily News staff writer
> Published: 08-07-2006
> 
> Officials in Troy want to pursue a reservoir that would provide the  
> town with twice the amount of water it needs.
> 
> Troy is in the preliminary stages of building a 250-million to 300- 
> million-gallon reservoir downstream from its existing 8-million- 
> gallon reservoir.
> 
> The town collects about 80 percent of its water from the surface and  
> only uses its two wells during the summer months.
> 
> The area flooded to house the reservoir would be land the town  
> already owns and property owned by the University of Idaho.
> 
> Troy’s founders decided more than 120 years ago to buy a large  
> portion of the drainage that supplies the town with its water.
> 
> Their foresight may provide the town with the water it needs for  
> years to come.
> 
> “Right now, Troy is restricted and can’t really grow because we just  
> don’t have enough water,” Mayor Ken Whitney Jr. said. “We believe  
> this is the best option for a sustainable, more plentiful water  
> supply, but we need the town to sign off on it.”
> 
> The new system’s projected cost is approximately $3.5 million. The  
> city currently has about $1 million saved from select logging on its  
> drainage area. Water rates would increase to between $10 and $15,  
> although Whitney said all of the cost analyses and data are rough.
> 
> The city has been looking at potential reservoir sites since 1993,  
> Whitney said. The City Council and forester Cliff Todd will explain  
> the need for a new reservoir at an Aug. 28 meeting at the Troy Lions  
> Club. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
> 
> “We need people to be at this meeting,” Whitney said. “They are the  
> ones that have to decide if they really want us to pursue this route.”
> 
> The city could drill more wells for about $100,000 apiece, Whitney  
> said, but Troy is located over an aquifer that does not have enough  
> water to continually supply the town.
> 
> Todd said studies done on the aquifer show it is not part of the  
> Grand Ronde Aquifer that supplies water to Moscow and Pullman. The  
> aquifer under Troy stops before it reaches Moscow, he said. Wells  
> drilled into the aquifer below Troy pull no more than 150 gallons a  
> minute, while some wells in the Grand Ronde Aquifer pump more than  
> 2,000 gallons a minute.
> 
> “At 300 million gallons that would be enough to supply Troy with  
> enough water for two years if it had 1,500 people living in it,” Todd  
> said. “The reservoir makes the most sense because of the topography,  
> the creek and the amount of water we can get.”
> 
> The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed Troy’s current reservoir  
> in the 1930s. The town didn’t start using groundwater until the 1970s.
> 
> Whitney said the existing reservoir was nothing more than a muddy  
> hole last summer, and the wells were running dry.
> 
> “We were hurting,” he said. “If we get a new reservoir we would have  
> water in reserve for when we have those dry years and not have to  
> worry every summer and not have to ration.”
> 
> Whitney said formulas he has seen allocate 100 million gallons of  
> water a year for 800 people, which is the population of Troy. With  
> its current reservoir, the town can only draw 60 million gallons a year.
> 
> “Several contractors have come to us wanting to build, but we just  
> don’t have the water,” he said. “This will be the foundation in  
> Troy’s growth.”
> 
> The town already has water rights to the drainage area, but it needs  
> a permit to move the holding area down Big Meadow Creek.
> 
> Latah County gave the city a conditional use permit for the  
> reservoir. Now, the citizens must approve the plan and pass the bond  
> that would pay for the reservoir. The city must hire an engineer to  
> plan the dam, and the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the  
> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have to approve the plan.
> 
> Todd said one of the contingencies the city faces is making  
> accommodations for salmon, steelhead and wetlands. Todd said those  
> shouldn’t be a problem if the city dumps water into the creek during  
> the summer to accommodate salmon and steelhead and creates new  
> wetlands to compensate for the creek.
> 
> Besides providing for fish, Todd said IDWR wants Troy to dump extra  
> water into the creek during the summer to accommodate the city of  
> Juliaetta’s needs. Todd said water for fish and people downstream  
> would be possible. Even if Troy’s population doubled, planners still  
> project an extra 150 million gallons.
> 
> Todd does not foresee running a line to Moscow if the Grand Ronde  
> Aquifer dries up, but pumping water to accommodate for people  
> downstream is realistic.
> 
> “This is the most important issue for Troy,” Whitney said. “We are  
> trying to look far into the future so our kids and grandkids can have  
> enough water.”
> 
> IF YOU GO
> 
> * WHAT: Town meeting to hear from the public on whether the city  
> should pursue a reservoir.
> 
> * WHEN: Troy Lions Club
> 
> * WHERE: Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.
> 
> Ryan Bentley can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 237, or by e-mail  
> at rbentley at dnews.com. 
>