Aquifer Now Priority In Sewer Plan County Continues To Step Up Program Spending, Hookups

After investing 13 years and $112 million with mixed results, Spokane County is launching a new sewer construction plan that should better protect drinking water.

County officials plan to spend more money on sewer work in 1997 than in any recent year. Homeowners will pay a bigger share of the cost than they have in the past, though not as much as will be spent by those who get sewers in the future.

For the first time, the money will be spent where it will do the most good to protect the aquifer, Spokane’s only source of drinking water.

That’s a departure from the past, when sewer work was prioritized based on the order in which neighborhoods submitted petitions asking for the work.

As a result, county officials expect to connect 9,300 homes to sewers in the next five years. That’s more than were connected in the 13 years since sewer work began.

Spending on neighborhood collector systems hit $11.7 million last year, and will climb to $12.8 million this year. It will range from $11 million to $13 million a year through 2001, officials said.

By comparison, the county spent $6.3 million on neighborhood sewers in 1993, and $5.6 million in 1994.

Water-quality experts have warned for years that parts of Spokane’s aquifer are polluted with bacteria from malfunctioning septic tanks.

In 1981, under pressure from state and federal authorities, county commissioners announced they would complete a $50 million sewer project within 10 years. It would, they said, eliminate about 30,000 septic tanks over the aquifer.

But landowners balked at the cost, tying up the work in appeals. And the county spent much of its money building pump stations and main sewer lines needed before any houses could be connected to the system. Meanwhile, developers built houses with septic tanks nearly as fast as the county built sewers.

By 1993, engineers estimated there were still at least 25,000 septic tanks over the aquifer. They conceded it would take another 50 to 100 years to complete the sewer project if the work continued at the same pace.

Alarmed at the slow progress, the state Board of Health instructed the county to draw up a new, more realistic plan, and ordered a moratorium on new urban lots in areas that wouldn’t have sewers within 20 years.

The moratorium was largely ineffective, since it didn’t apply to thousands of undeveloped lots that were already platted.

In response to the moratorium, the county has made several changes in the sewer program. They include:

Cutting the size of the original sewer construction area roughly in half. That means many suburban areas won’t get sewers, but the most densely populated areas will get them sooner.

Abandoning Utility Local Improvement Districts. Under that cumbersome system, neighborhoods that wanted sewers filed petitions to be placed on a waiting list. The work could be slowed down by appeals from neighbors who opposed sewers.

As a result, sewer work “really fluctuated from year to year,” said county utilities Director Bruce Rawls.

Starting this year, sewers are financed by revenue bonds. There are fewer opportunities for appeals.

Prioritizing construction based on environmental need. This year, work will be done in three Valley neighborhoods and two on the North Side judged to pose a serious threat to the aquifer.

Such planning wasn’t possible with ULIDs because sewer construction was first-come, first-served.

Increasing landowners’ share of construction cost, so government’s contribution can be spread further.

In 1990, the owner of a typical home in the Valley or North Side paid $2,000, about a third the cost of sewer construction. State and county taxpayers covered the remaining cost.

The homeowners’ share was increased to $3,500 in 1994.

Now, homeowners pay $4,295, or about 65 percent of the total cost of providing sewers. By 2000, county officials propose charging homeowners 75 percent of the construction cost.

To keep the work going, the Legislature has guaranteed $75 million for sewer work - $3.75 million a year - over the next 20 years.

The city of Spokane will get another $25 million, earmarked mostly for improvements at the regional sewage treatment plant, which needs expensive improvements.

City and county residents continue to pay an annual aquifer-protection fee of $15 to $30, also earmarked for sewer work. Other money comes from the local sales tax and real estate excise tax.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Spokane’s sewer work