Water used to literally burst out of the ground on the Palouse.
In the 1800s, artesian wells produced up to 3 million gallons of water a day, and once the wells ran out, settlers continued to thrive thanks to the area’s groundwater sources called aquifers.
Today, those aquifers run the risk of eventually going dry if residents don’t do something about it.
“The story of civilization is the story of freshwater, period,” Tyler Palmer, Moscow’s deputy city supervisor for Public Works and Services, said. “The reason any city exists where it does is because of the availability of freshwater, without exception. Moscow and Pullman are no different.”
Conservation has been a concern on the Palouse for decades because the underground aquifer system is the only local source of water. With the area’s population only growing, there’s been an increase in concern among local leaders and officials that the aquifers will eventually no longer be able to sustain water usage on the Palouse.
Aquifer systems are commonly thought of as underground lakes or reservoirs, but that’s a popular myth. An aquifer is an underground water system flowing between the layers of rock, sand, clay and gravel underneath the Palouse’s rolling hills.
Moscow sources water from two aquifers, the shallower Wanapum and the larger, deeper Grande Ronde. Both are recharging at a slower rate than water is being pumped out of them.
The Wanapum aquifer system lies about 60 feet below the surface and while it used to provide around 30% of Moscow’s water, Palmer said it supplies significantly less now. The city of Moscow, excluding the University of Idaho, which runs on its own water system, is the only major pumping entity drawing from the Wanapum.
The Grand Ronde aquifer system, on the other hand, lies roughly 300 feet under the ground. That is, if it’s available at all, according to the city’s water conservation website.
Moscow’s main source of water, Grande Ronde, also supplies the city of Pullman and Washington State University.
“The most obvious need is water,” Palmer said. “But throughout the country, we’ve been very successful at producing and distributing water in a way most people don’t even think about. We take for granted that we turn on the tap and clean, potable water comes out.”
As the area’s only major source of water, the aquifers aren’t sustainable without help. In 1967, an organization called the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee was formed.
Since their founding, the 12 member board from Latah County and Whitman County helps research water issues on the Palouse.
Anne Zabala, a representative of PBAC and Moscow city councilor, has made water conservation the focus of her concerns since the beginning of her campaign for office.
Her role on the committee is figuring out how to encourage citizens to be involved and supportive of water conservation projects, big or small.
“We have four alternatives ready and identified, so it’s at a point where the public needs to be engaged,” Zabala said. “What often happens when you have a project of this magnitude – if people don’t believe in it and feel good about it as a solution for their community, they’re going to kill it.”
In 1967, a plan was formed by the Pullman-Moscow Water Resources Committee, PBAC’s predecessor, to pump water from the Snake River into a reservoir built on the farmland of the Palouse.
The project garnered support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but was ultimately shot down by the opposing Organization for the Preservation of Agricultural Land. According to Zabala, the opposition resulted from a lack of community engagement.
In the coming years, PBAC is hoping to avoid these situations by focusing on public engagement within the community.
The Wanapum and Grande Ronde aquifers were thought to be separate until recent research showed they are more intertwined than officials previously thought. Because of all the different flow rates in just a single aquifer, trying to measure flow rates in two that are intimately tied together is incredibly difficult, Palmer said.
This can make it tough to determine exactly how fast and how long it takes the Palouse Basin aquifers to recharge. Looking at alternatives is one way to help circle around those difficulties until more research can be done, while also providing the Palouse with a more sustainable water source.
According to a 2017 report, PBAC currently has four different water source alternatives in mind as potential options for the future.
The first option would be to pump water up to the Palouse from the Snake River. Otherwise, diversions could be created in local rivers and streams, with a decision of whether or not to store water in a reservoir. Lastly, a combination of water conservation efforts could be used to ease the stress on the aquifers.
The city of Moscow has already made several smaller efforts, including offering free water saving devices to residents, implementing an irrigation season, a local toilet rebate plan and promoting wisescapes.
Tom Lamar, a Latah County commissioner and the executive director of the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute, focuses many of his efforts on educating children in local schools about water conservation and its benefits.
“The best way to get to adults is through their kids,” Lamar said. “Plus, kids want to learn and they really care. When they’re at home and they see Dad running the water while he’s shaving or Mom running the water while she’s brushing her teeth or whatever, kids can say ‘Hey Mom, Dad, turn off the water.’”
A big focus with the kids lately has been beavers, Lamar said. Beavers create places for flooding water to go, so instead of just running away in a flash, the water pools up and eventually helps to recharge the aquifers.
Lamar said PCEI provides education to more than just children, but to young adults as well by providing volunteer opportunities which allow them to be hands on and experience nature up close.
This includes projects like helping to plant trees along the edges of Paradise Creek or expanding floodplains. Similar to what happens when beavers build dams, the floodplains spread water out, slowing it down enough to soak into the ground and help recharge the aquifers.
The bottom line for Palmer, Zabala and Lamar is every drop of water matters, and collaboration across communities and borders is what will help save as much water as possible to create a sustainable way of life on the Palouse.
“It’s actually a really exciting time because, after over 100 years of knowing we needed to get something done, we are truly on the cusp of trying to get a project on the ground,” Palmer said. “That, to me, is very exciting.”
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5