2019 Top 10 – No. 2
CHENEY — Whether it was e coli in Medical Lake, dealing with the consequences of contamination from firefighting chemicals in Airway Heights or supply in Cheney, water issues generated a number of stories in 2019.
Cheney led the way, and comes in No. 2 on the year’s top-10 story list, beginning with dealing with leaks that resulted in the city’s two main pumps producing over 350 gallons per minute more than average through the winter before the leaks — in eight different locations within the system — were found and repaired in early spring.
In May, the City Council approved a $900,000 interfund loan to pay for the balance of the rehabilitation work at Well 3, with the city receiving $750,000 in state funding to help with the project. The well eventually went online in October, producing 1,200 – 1,500 needed gallons per minute that should help with summer irrigation demands in the future — a bullet typically producing water restriction measures several times over the summer but one the city dodged this year thanks to more seasonal temperatures.
But the council also took measures to deal with those water needs from a financial standpoint. The council approved an increase in the water use base charge at the end of 2018 that went into effect in early January.
After paying for a rate and usage study, the council implement a 10 cents per gallon increase in usage rates, and implemented a new, tiered use rate system in August, a move that didn’t sit well with some citizens. City Administrator Mark Schuller said the city’s water fund ended August with a $383,000 deficit due to mounting system costs — some expected, some not.
“We need some cash to keep everything up and going,” he said in September.
The city’s water system moves will continue in 2020, having received a $2 million grant for work on its water treatment plant to allow for installation of a re-use water irrigation system.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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