<p><b><font size="5">Water concerns top issue at Moscow forum</font><p>All seven candidates for seats on Moscow City Council attend session sponsored by chamber</p><p>By David Johnson </p><p>Thursday, October 18, 2007</p><p> </p><p>MOSCOW - Debate over regional water woes bubbled up again here Wednesday during a noon forum featuring all seven hopefuls for the Moscow City Council.</p><p>One candidate suggested groundwater concerns have been used to stop economic growth, at least three said aquifer levels continue to decline, another claimed levels may have stabilized, one said more action and less study may be needed, and another said he's tired of seeing brown lawns, including in the city cemetery.</p><p>Five candidates - Aaron Ament, Dan Carscallen, Wayne Krauss, Tom Lamar and Linda Pall - are running for three four-year terms on the council. Ament, Lamar and Pall are incumbents.</p><p>Two candidates - Evan Holmes and Walter Steed - are running for one two-year term. Neith!
er is an
incumbent. </p><p>The election is Nov. 6 and Wednesday's forum, sponsored by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, was one of several scheduled in this politically charged town that has two citizens groups - the Greater Moscow Alliance and the Moscow Civic Association - increasingly active in the campaign.</p><p>"I think it's been used as a way to stop growth in our town and I don't think that's a great idea," Carscallen said of the water issue.</p><p>"We don't have a water emergency. I think most of us can agree to that," said Krauss. "We could have, at the least, 200 years of water left. ... But right now, folks, I'm just really tired of seeing all our yards just burned up, including the cemetery."</p><p>"I know that there are people who believe that we should be showering with 5-gallon buckets, to flush our toilets with when we get through," said Steed. "And I really don't want to live that way."</p><p>Carscallen, Krauss and Ste!
ed are
all endorsed by the GMA.</p><p>Ament was adamant about potential water problems. "What we know, I believe, is that our water level in the Grand Ronde aquifer is dropping by 1.3 feet per year," he said.</p><p>"The major issue with water is we have a limited supply," Pall said. "We don't know how much we have, and our straw is taking out quite a bit from the aquifer right now."</p><p>"Well, water is my favorite beverage. I like it a lot," Lamar said, lending some levity to the discussion before getting serious. "Even when we were using less water than we are now, water levels were dropping."</p><p>Ament, Pall and Lamar are all endorsed by the MCA.</p><p>Holmes, the only candidate not endorsed by either the GMA or MCA, said it's time for action, like creating a capital fund to pay for development of alternative water sources. "I'm not sure we need more study," he said, adding that study and conservation won't increase !
the
amount of water available. But planning for something like a surface water reservoir might.</p><p>The exchange came just two weeks after the third annual Palouse Basin Water Summit in neighboring Pullman, which attracted experts from throughout the region.</p><p>"We definitely need to continue to approach this problem from, how are we going to stabilize our situation?" Krauss said. "What I don't like, though, is the idea for us to try to save water here in Moscow so it can be used downstream." He pointed to Washington State University's new golf course as a potential excess drain on the water supply.</p><p>Lamar lauded the University of Idaho's efforts to recover used water and said conservation efforts throughout Moscow should be encouraged, while methods for capturing more surface water are explored.</p><p>Carscallen said Moscow appears to be at "the shallow end of the pool," with the two major aquifers extending farther west. Despite that, he!
said the
water issue is more about management than lack of supply. He said the area is saturated with experts who need to continue speaking out about the water supply issue to ensure it remains a scientific, rather than a political issue.</p><p>Ament said members of the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee continue to do an outstanding job of ensuring future water supply and he said there's a continued need to "engage our neighbors to the west" through water summits and other forums.</p><p>Pall encouraged both PBAC and the city to keep working together on water conservation and surface water retention fronts. "I'm in quite solid support of our efforts right now ... kudos to our city efforts, and more to come."</p><p>---</p><p>Johnson may be contacted at </p><p>deveryone@potlatch.com or (208) 883-0564.</p></b></p>