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water proje</title></head><body>
<div>Following is the letter to the editor I submitted yesterday upon
reading Kirsten's "article":</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Another take</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Daily News reporter E. Kirsten Peters could have written her
article on the proposed groundwater ordinance (Daily News 7/20) with
journalistic integrity. Instead, she chose to editorialize. Having
attended the meeting myself, Peters' slant that "property rights
got a black eye" could just as easily have been "property
rights defended" but that is not apparently where her personal
beliefs lie.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>As was clearly stated in the proposed ordinance and by members of
the public in their testimony, property rights are not just about how
someone can develop new uses on their land but also how existing uses
and landowners are protected from harm by new development. The
proposed ordinance, I believe, does an excellent job of balancing
those sometimes conflicting demands in regards to our most precious
local natural resource - our groundwater.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Editorials belong on the opinion page, not in the news.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mark Solomon</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>At 5:40 AM -0700 7/21/05, Tom Hansen wrote:</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>However, the July 20, 2005 edition of the
Moscow-Pullman Daily News is<br>
reporting (with a special thanks to Kirsten Peters, Daily News
Staff<br>
Writer):<br>
<br>
------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
Property rights take hit in water debate; Naylor Farms stands to
lose<br>
ongoing battle<br>
<br>
By E. Kirsten Peters, Daily News Staff Writer<br>
<br>
Property rights in Latah County were at the heart of conflict Tuesday
in an<br>
ongoing battle over Moscow's water supply. In the end, it was
property<br>
rights that got the black eye.<br>
<br>
At an evening meeting of the county's planning commission, a set of
new<br>
regulations on land use attracted public comment before a crowd of 65
people<br>
packed into a basement room of the county courthouse. The meeting
closed<br>
with the unanimous acceptance of the proposed regulations by the
planning<br>
commission<br>
<br>
The proposal now moves to the county commissioners for
consideration.<br>
<br>
At issue is land use around the city of Moscow in an area called
the<br>
sub-basin, which is bounded to the north by Moscow Mountain, to the
south by<br>
Paradise Ridge, to the east near Joel and to the west by the state
line.<br>
<br>
The proposed regulations prohibit outright the use of land for:
refining or<br>
processing mineral resources; processing or storing toxic
materials;<br>
sanitary or industrial landfills, and industrial wastewater
treatment.<br>
<br>
The proposed regulations would impact the Naylor Farms Inc. property
north<br>
of Moscow. The company has proposed in recent years the use of
groundwater<br>
for irrigated farming and for clay-mineral mining and processing.
Naylor<br>
Farms' petition for water rights has been opposed by water activists
in<br>
Moscow who fear depletion of groundwater resources for the city.<br>
<br>
Geologic evidence suggests that groundwater at Naylor Farms cannot
flow<br>
toward Moscow, and the proposed ordinance is highly arbitrary in
several<br>
other respects, Brent Thomson of Naylor Farms said.<br>
<br>
"How were the boundaries of the (sub-basin area) established and
why don't<br>
they encompass all the recharge areas?" Thomson asked the
commission.<br>
<br>
He said the proposed ordinance is a transparent attempt to prevent
Naylor<br>
Farms from pursuing what has until now been legal uses of its
property.<br>
<br>
Thomson was not alone in his defense of property rights.<br>
<br>
"As a property owner I have concerns (about the proposed
regulations) and<br>
...the frittering away of our freedoms," said county resident
Murray<br>
Stanton. "I am not entirely against these ideas but ...we all
know how<br>
difficult it is to reverse regulations once we have them."<br>
<br>
Other speakers testified that since local geologists cannot agree even
about<br>
groundwater flow direction, land use should not be restricted in
the<br>
sub-basin because that area may or may not affect recharge of
aquifers<br>
significant to the city of Moscow.<br>
<br>
The prohibition against mining in the proposed regulations would apply
not</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>only to Naylor Farms but to potential new
gravel pits within the sub-basin<br>
area.<br>
<br>
"One of our members on the task force (that developed the draft
regulations)<br>
researched the gravel pit question and we believe there aren't any
viable<br>
places in the affected area to acquire good gravel," county
planning and<br>
building director Michelle Fuson said.<br>
<br>
The proposed regulations are meant to address the fact that the city
of<br>
Moscow relies for its water on two aquifers under the town. Above
the<br>
aquifers in central Latah County is a bed of loose material under the
soil<br>
called the Latah Formation.<br>
<br>
According to the draft county ordinance, rainfall and snowmelt
percolate<br>
into the aquifers in large measure through the Latah Formation
throughout<br>
the "sub-basin" area. Because of this theory of recharge,
the county is<br>
interested in restricting the ways in which land in the sub-basin can
be<br>
used. The goal is the protection of the aquifers from contamination
through<br>
the Latah Formation sediments.<br>
<br>
The regulations being considered by the county would not affect land
in the</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>city of Moscow or in the "area of
impact" buffer zone immediately around<br>
Moscow.<br>
<br>
"The city will make its own decisions about water issues that
will govern<br>
the land in town and the city and county have to negotiate an
agreement<br>
about how to handle the area of impact land," Fuson said.<br>
<br>
The proposed regulations would mean conditional use permits would
be<br>
required for all new instances of:<br>
<br>
residential wastewater treatment;<br>
<br>
commercial nurseries;<br>
<br>
ag supply and service centers;<br>
<br>
car washes;<br>
<br>
"concentrated or confined animal feeding operations" of 10
to 100 "animal<br>
units" as defined by the county code. (see sidebar)<br>
<br>
Members of the local ad hoc group known as Protect Our Water testified
in<br>
general agreement with the proposed ordinance, although some
acknowledged<br>
that restricting the number of animals, particularly horses, might be
seen<br>
as severe to some landowners.<br>
<br>
Members of the task force that developed the proposed regulations<br>
acknowledged that no scientific studies were used to determine the
rules<br>
about "animal units."<br>
<br>
Making note of that testimony, the planning commission amended the
proposed<br>
ordinance to read that land owners with 60 to 100 "animal units,"
rather<br>
than 10 to 100, would have to seek conditional use permits.<br>
<br>
Livestock operations that confine more than 100 animal units are
prohibited<br>
in the sub-basin land by the proposed regulations.<br>
<br>
Violators could be fined $300 or jailed for 30 days for each day they
are<br>
not in compliance with the new restrictions.<br>
<br>
The regulations will now be considered by the board of county
commissioners,<br>
which will determine if the proposed ordinance becomes law.<br>
<br>
"Assuming the commissioners want to go forward, they will set a
public<br>
hearing, likely in August," Fuson said.<br>
<br>
QuickRead<br>
<br>
What happened<br>
<br>
Public comment was given to Latah County Planning Commission, which
then<br>
voted unanimously in favor of new county regulations of land use.<br>
<br>
What it means<br>
<br>
The county is moving toward restrictions on property use in the area
from<br>
Moscow Mountain to Paradise Ridge.<br>
<br>
What happens next<br>
<br>
The county commissioners will decide whether to accept the
proposed<br>
regulations and give them the force of law.<br>
<br>
------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
Unlike what some people may mislead you to believe, water IS NOT an
infinite<br>
source.<br>
<br>
Take care, Moscow.<br>
<br>
Tom Hansen<br>
Moscow, Idaho<br>
<br>
"law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice, and
when they<br>
fail in this purpose, they become the dangerously structured dams that
block<br>
the flow of social progress."<br>
<br>
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.<br>
<br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
<br>
From: vision2020-bounces@moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com]<br>
On Behalf Of Phil Nisbet<br>
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 7:24 PM<br>
To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>
Subject: [Vision2020] IDWR distribution of funds to water projects<br>
<br>
Just got back to the shack from the IDWR information meeting.<br>
<br>
Distribution of funds from the Idaho Legislature's appropriation
for<br>
hydrological studies in the Moscow Basin have been handed
down.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
PBAC has been alloted $284,000 to put in a monitering well program in
the<br>
area west of town. IDWR will do the contracting for drilling
services at a<br>
cost of $15,000.<br>
<br>
The Latah County Proposal, drafted by Mark Solomon and John Bush, to
study<br>
the location of recharge points for the Sediment of Bovill and for
the<br>
Wanapum aquifers was also accepted and has been funded to the tune
of<br>
$151,000. Serious congratulations are due both John and Mark
for<br>
marshalling through a plan that will greatly enhence our understanding
of<br>
how the groundwater system works in the area between Moscow Mountain
and<br>
Moscow. Further thanks are owed to the area Legislators who made
the funds<br>
happen and to the Commisioners for seeing that the proposal got a
good<br>
hearing before IDWR.<br>
<br>
Great Job by all concerned. It will be good to have the
additional data for<br>
<br>
future planning efforts.<br>
<br>
Phil Nisbet<br>
<br>
_________________________________________________________________<br>
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<blockquote type="cite" cite>Security.
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<br>
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