Palouse water pumping totals show increase

Pumping figures for 2012 released by the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee (PBAC) indicate 2012 water use on the Palouse increased 1.5 percent from 2011. The figures were released at the monthly meeting in Moscow last week.

The 2012 aggregated total pumping for the major pumping entities was 2.64 billion gallons.

The totals involve pumping logs from Pullman, Moscow, Colfax, Palouse, Washington State University and the University of Idaho.

Overall, PBAC has marked progress with total pumping by the major entities decreasing 14.6 percent since the project started under the 1992 Palouse Ground Water Management Plan.

“A portion of the 2012 increase compared to 2011 can be attributed to the warmer, drier month of May we experienced this past year,” PBAC Executive Manager Steve Robischon reported.

PBAC Chairman Steve Potratz, who is also WSU’s Plant Engineering Supervisor, noted “It is encouraging to see the results of water conservation efforts by all of our pumping entities within the basin. While there are climate related blips on the water consumption radar, the overall trend shows a decreasing rate of decline which tells us that our efforts are helping to both protect our supply of water and have a better understanding of its nature-how much is being replenished. It helps us to determine what may be reasonable mitigation opportunities for our communities to pursue and manage.

“The 14.6 percent decrease in usage in spite of significant community growth is testimony to the worth of water conservation efforts and the commitment to manage this important resource.”

The Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee is a voluntary, cooperative, multijurisdictional group with representatives from the cities, counties and universities within the Palouse ground water basin.

The cooperative was launched out of a concern for the drop in the Grand Rhonde water aquifer. Robischon noted the aquifer level had been declining at a rate of a foot a year at the time and measurements now show the drop in the aquifer level has been reduced.

Pumping totals for the six entities totaled 2.64 billion gallons for 2012 compared to 2.6 billion for 2011. Three of the six entities marked cutbacks in the pumping total charted by PBAC. The University of Idaho marked the largest cutback with 158 gallons pumped in 2012 compared to 175 the previous year.

Palouse finished the year with a 56 million gallon total compared to 57.7 million pumped in 2011. Colfax pumped 196 million gallons in 2012 compared to 210 million the prior year.

The reports show the largest 2012 increases in pumping were for the two major towns in the basin. Moscow pumped 861 million gallons compared to 810 the previous year, and Pullman pumped 896 million gallons compared to 878 million in 2011. The WSU total was 469 million gallons last year compared to 466 the prior year.