Rathdrum Aquifer Protection Funded Idaho Budget Panel Approves $58,000 For Program

Programs to protect the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer from contamination shouldn’t run out of money in the coming year, thanks to action by the Legislature’s budget committee Thursday.

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to spend $58,000 to keep the program alive for another year. The amount was proposed by Reps. Hilde Kellogg, R-Post Falls; Wayne Meyer, R-Rathdrum; and Don Pischner, R-Coeur d’Alene.

It’s a small step compared to the lawmakers’ original request. They wanted $200,000 a year to run the programs that make sure the water that serves hundreds of thousands in North Idaho and Eastern Washington is safe to drink. “There’s no study here - it’s just to prevent pollution of the aquifer,” said Pischner, who serves on the budget committee. “It’s really a good program.”

Spokane County has pledged to put up $30,000, and the Panhandle Health District is raising $20,000 through fees. But the bulk of the money to fund the programs - $500,000 a year since 1988 - came from federal funds that no longer are flowing.

Former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley won those funds. They went away when he left office.

Meyer and Kellogg served on a committee that brought together many interests in the community to pare down the program to its bare essentials. The committee’s plan brings the total annual cost down to $273,000.

If the program were to stop, the 87 public water systems that now use water from the aquifer could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in waivers that free them from costly testing requirements. “It’s estimated that that’s a savings to these water purveyors of $700,000,” Meyer said.

The program is centered on preventing pollution of the aquifer, which is far less expensive than cleaning up contamination after the fact. It includes sewage treatment agreements, sampling, technical assistance, public education, a program that targets nondomestic wastewater and one that deals with management of specific chemicals to make sure they don’t get into the aquifer.

The appropriation has a strong likelihood of winning approval from both houses.

, DataTimes