[Vision2020] The (New) Troy Reservoir

[Sunil Ramalingam]

Well sure they got it figured, they have Cliff Todd on it.

Sunil


>From: Steven Basoa <sbasoa at moscow.com>
>To: Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] The (New) Troy Reservoir
>Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 12:10:40 -0700
>
>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.


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