Divining Cheney's water future

For city of Cheney officials, statistics don't lie.

The city has been experiencing earlier starts and longer durations to its irrigation season over the past two years that put more demands on its water supply system. Those demands have required bringing reserve wells on line earlier and longer than planned - leading to increasing equipment wear and tear - and at some point during the season, irrigation restrictions.

In the past, those watering restrictions have led to the city not watering parks or school district facilities for a period of time, generally about six weeks late in the summer. This past summer, the supply fell to such a critical level that those restrictions were extended to residents.

If these conditions, the result of dry winters and springs along with hot temperatures coming earlier and lasting longer, are to be the "new normal," as Cheney Public Works Director Todd Ableman wonders, then additional measures will be required to protect the city's water supply.

One of these steps the city regularly does by upgrading its seven operational wells, budgeting at least one per year out of the Water Department's operations and maintenance funding. But that can be spendy, running between $40,000 – $60,000 per well depending on the work needed, and with upgrades generally lasting 3 – 4 years, is not really a long-term solution.

So, other measures are needed, which leads Ableman and others to a discussion about wells 3 and 4.

Well 3 is no longer producing, possibly due to a below ground collapse that sealed the vein. Ableman said they could re-activate the well be drilling a larger hole next to it and vacating the existing shaft, which was drilled in 1960.

The city has applied for a $500,000 grant to do so through the state Department of Ecology's emergency drought relief program. Originally, Well 3 was to have supplied 100 gallons per minute, and how much could be produced with a new shaft would depend on many factors such as depth, pump size and size of the water pocket.

Well 4 is irrigation-only due to turbidity issues experienced when the city drilled it down to a depth of about 2,000 feet. Ableman said they thought they had implemented measures that cleaned it up, but testing and analysis determined that was not the case.

One way to make the well's water usable for human consumption is to install a filter, something Ableman thinks might cost upwards of $750,000 and might not be feasible if the particulates in the water are too fine. If that is the case, the well's piping system could be expanded.

Currently, Well 4 services Sutton - where it's located - Moos and Salnave parks. About 1.05 miles of irrigation-only pipe could be installed along Washington Street to run water to an old, unused city reservoir located between North Ninth and North Tenth streets near Eastern Washington University's Morrison Hall.

From the holding reservoir, another mile of irrigation-only piping would be extended down to North Eighth Street and out to a terminus at the new 50-acre Park on Betz Road. This would enable athletic fields at Cheney High School, middle school and Crunks Fields, along with 50-acre and Hagelin parks to be removed from the main system and put on the irrigation-only system.

Ableman doesn't have firm figures on this option, but estimates it could run around $800,000, including restoration of the reservoir

A third option is using reclaimed water from the city's wastewater treatment plant as irrigation water. That would require installation of additional filtration equipment at the plant to bring it to Class A reclaimed water standards.

According to a 2007 study done by Esvelt Environmental Engineering, Class A reclaimed water is water suitable for irrigating food and non-food crops along with landscape irrigation. Depending on the type of filter system installed, granular media or membrane, the upgrade would run between $5.43 million to $7.5 million, as estimated in 2007.

Toss in the needed transmission system, estimated in 2007 as $1.7 million if the city ran it from the plant to Cheney-Spangle Road and into town, and it's money the city doesn't have.

"Any other additional production measures outside of well rehabilitation would need to come from other funding sources," Ableman said.

Other measures to help demands on the water system could come from conservation measures, such as restrictions on watering times and amounts, additional watering fees, encouraging installation of drought tolerant landscaping and/or programs to reduce or eliminate watering similar to those used to conserve electrical power.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.