Medical Lake's water blues

Like most municipalities in Washington state, the city of Medical Lake has been experiencing some trouble with the fallout from the high water levels resulting from the snowpack melt and recent rain.

The National Weather Service recorded 4.07 inches of rain for March 2017, the second most for the month behind 2012, which had 4.56 inches.

One of the issues from the increased water is water on roadways, which is seen across Spokane County. Like other cities, some of Medical Lake's streets are damaged. This is a combination of the road being soft and the amount of traffic, particularly trucks and buses, on the roadway. City Administrator Doug Ross said staff has had to close portions of four streets in the city limits. He added that crews will begin fixing the streets once the moisture dries out.

"It has to be dry or our equipment would make it (the damage) worse," he added.

Another factor in fixing the streets is funding. Ross said the city received a state Transportation Improvement Board grant and some of the money can be used to help fix streets.

The soft road has also had an effect on the city's water service lines. Ross said staff has repaired a "year's worth of service line breaks in the last three months."

"I've had longtime residents tell me they haven't seen water levels like this since they've been here," Ross said.

Staff also put sandbags around the Lakeshore lift station at Peper Park. Ross said 75 percent of the city's sewer system pumps into the lift station and he wants to make sure water does not get into the building.

"If water gets into the electrical circuits and shorts them out, that's 400,000 gallons (of wastewater) with no place to go," Ross said.

Residents in Southlake Terrace have also taken their sump pumps out of their sewer drains and moved them onto the streets.

In an effort to pump water out of their basements, residents put their sump pumps down the drain, which resulted in the Southlake Terrace lift station, as well as manholes and water mains on Campbell Street, being filled to capacity. The city contacted Big Sky Utilities to remove the waste, which Ross said was about 99 percent water, and transport it to the reclamation treatment plant.

"We had to go door to door and ask people to put the pumps onto the street," Ross said. "That saved our bacon on the manholes."

Residents in other areas have also used sump pumps to drain water onto the street.

The additional water has increased the flow at the wastewater treatment plant to roughly around 1.3 million gallons a day, which Ross said "is manageable."

As for parks, he said activities do not ramp up until around May so he does not see any delay in residents using them.

"The ball fields are different though," Ross added. "The fields will see some delays."

Looking ahead, Ross said mosquitos could be an issue in the hotter months. Another matter is the increased growth in vegetation, which could affect the upcoming fire season.

"If we have a series of hot days, you'll have things growing and you'll get a lot of fuel," Ross said. "We'll take it when it occurs and react to what happens."

There is one silver lining from the rain and snowpack melt in that the city has more potable water.

"We will still be asking people to conserve water, we don't want to get short sighted," Ross said. "But we'll probably sleep a little easier."

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.