For more than 20 years, property owners in Spokane County have been paying a modest annual fee that goes toward protecting the area’s water supply.

Depending on what happens in the next few days in Boise, Kootenai County may adopt a similar program. For the half-million people who live in the region and share the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, that’s encouraging news.

The rapid population growth that is besieging Kootenai County not only puts increasing demands on the aquifer’s finite capacity, it accelerates contamination. Someone has to provide the education programs and the oversight to protect an irreplaceable resource. That someone is primarily the Panhandle Health District, which already has 3,000 drywells to monitor in Kootenai County. The faster the region grows, the more the health district is stretched.

Annual appropriations from the Legislature have helped, but key lawmakers have said they won’t keep doing that.

Formed during the glacial periods of geologic history, the aquifer was discovered in 1895, but it wasn’t studied intensely until 1977. Since then it’s been identified as the sole source of drinking water for the region. And the level of contamination in the underground water has been rising along with the growth of population above it.

Protecting a community’s drinking water is nothing to be taken lightly, as has been outlined in the Spokane River Dialogues series, which continues today on this page. While an aquifer protection district in Kootenai County won’t single-handedly end the threat, it’s an important part of a broader strategy.

Reps. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, sponsored the bill that would allow residents to petition the county commissioners for formation of such an entity. Earlier this week, however, the bill ran into opposition in the House Resources and Conservation Committee. Fears arose that the mechanism could be used in other areas of the state – especially southeast Idaho where water quantity is a bigger concern than water quality. Even Hayden Lake Republican Jim Clark criticized the absence of a public vote on district creation.

To get the legislation moving again, Nonini responded with amendments to limit the bill to this aquifer and to provide for a vote. If his and Henderson’s measure does become law, though, there’s still a long haul before anything could come of it.

To his credit, Nonini, former president of the Spokane River Association, said he’s willing to face the political consequences if constituents object. But for more skittish lawmakers, there are ample safeguards to insulate them from blame.

Fifty citizens have to petition county commissioners to call an election. If the commissioners agree, the vote would have to be held in conjunction with the May primary or November general election. No sneaking it through on a lightly supported, poorly publicized special election hidden elsewhere on the calendar. And, finally, the voters would have to say yes.

The maximum annual fee – $12 for a residence and $24 for a business – is comparable to the fees paid on Spokane County properties – $15 with a sewer connection, $30 with a septic tank.

The issue isn’t affordability. The issue is drinking water, a resource that we can’t afford not to protect.