What's behind the water tap?

A very non-descript building in Four Lakes, just off State Route 904, has within its walls a lot of responsibility.

The block structure houses the behind-the-scenes work of the Four Lakes Water District No. 10 and Strathview Water District No. 16.

With that comes the duty to deliver water for drinking, flushing and keeping lawns green - when appropriate. And much of that responsibility is shouldered by the water manager for both entities, Dan Dorshorst.

While small and serving just several hundred households, dispensing the lifeblood of clean water is a big chore.

Water districts are not unlike other service-related entities which serve taxpayers. It's officially known as a Spokane County Special Purpose District, similar to cemetery districts and other taxing agencies.

"We do have taxing authority," Dorshorst said. "We can assess properties for improvements," much like was the case several decades ago when Four Lakes became the owners of Strathview, a group of homes along the southeast portion of Silver Lake.

When Four Lakes bought the Strathview system, a fee was levied against all the property owners and the deal was made to acquire the business from a private company, Dorshorst explained. Originally it was the Strathview Corporation.

Dorshorst began work in the city of Medical Lake in 1975 and spent nearly 39 years there as the maintenance supervisor for the Public Works Department.

He took care of water, sewer and other things. Dorshorst was in the U.S. Air Force for eight years before that, a career which brought him to the West Plains.

He added in duties for Strathview in 1977 and several years later in Four Lakes.

A water manager does just about everything under the sun, or in this case behind the tap.

That means keeping certifications current and dealing with both the state and county health departments. "We have all the laws, rules and health stuff covered," Dorshorst said.

It includes a consumer confidence and water use efficiency reports ever year.

"I read the meters and take care of the wells and reservoir and infrastructure," Dorshorst said. "I'm kind of a one-man operation in this particular case."

Four Lakes has approximately 180 water taps, not all of which are active. "About 160 or so are active," Dorshorst said. As for Strathview, there are 120.

Supply in Four Lakes comes from three wells, one of which is in emergency standby mode because of a high concentration of nitrites. "We can't use it unless of an emergency and have to go through some hoops to put it back on line," Dorshorst said.

Water is stored in a 300,000-gallon reservoir, which Dorshorst said was "too small," but the district does not have the budget to address that.

Strathview is currently working to renew a deal to purchase water from the city of Medical Lake due to high iron and manganese, plus a lack of water. The City Council is wrestling with how that future deal will look. Originally the development had a 20-year agreement, but the city does not want to extend itself too far into the future at this point.

The original span of the deal was from 1997 to 2017 with a 200 gallon-per-minute allocation.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].