Moscow's 'Waterworld'

MOSCOW - The solution to Moscow's water woes could come from as far away as the Snake River or as close as Paradise Creek.

Members of the Moscow City Council are considering the possibility of creating a direct water pipeline to town in an effort to curb the city's reliance on a depleting groundwater supply.

SPF Water Engineering engineer Christian Petrich presented the council Monday with a second set of possible solutions for alternate water supplies - including building pipelines and recharging the aquifers - that were determined in a surface water reservoir feasibility study for Moscow.

The first set of solutions came in 2011 following research into the possibility of placing water reservoirs on Moscow Mountain that were estimated to cost between $5 million and more than $65 million.

As alternatives to the reservoirs, Petrich said the city could also consider the possibility of constructing pipelines from the North Fork Palouse River, Snake River or Dworshak Reservoir.

Petrich said building a pipeline from any of these bodies of water has been considered before, but the ideas were abandoned because such an endeavour would cost too much.

He estimated the cost to construct these three pipelines would begin at about $40 million for 14 miles of piping from the North Fork Palouse River, $56 million for 25 miles of piping to the Snake River, or $149 million for 55 miles of piping to Dworshak Reservoir. Those figures do not include the cost of purchasing or acquiring land for the pipelines.

Water rights is another aspect that the council would need to address if it decided to pursue any of those options, he said.

Some councilors questioned how water rights would apply to the possibility of pumping from the Snake River since it runs between Washington and Idaho. But Petrich said the city could also look at possibly tapping into the Clearwater River if the proposed pipeline did not comply with both Idaho and Washington codes.

Mayor Nancy Chaney said she hoped members of the Nez Perce Tribe would be involved in future discussions if the Clearwater River option was pursued any further because of their water rights.

Petrich said creating a pipeline from any of those options would provide enough water to help the entire region, if additional water was something other cities in the area were also interested in.

Closer to home, there are a couple local water source options in Paradise Creek and South Fork Palouse River that could be considered, Petrich said. Those sources would produce less water annually, but would be a less expensive option starting at about $1.3 million.

The city council did not take any action on the information presented Monday. The feasibility study has been completed and no additional research is expected unless councilors seek to pursue one of the options.

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Rudd may be contacted at erudd@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-8465. Follow her on Twitter @elizabeth_rudd.