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Editorial: Liberty Lake well drilling warrants impact study
Hundreds of wells proposed for a new Liberty Lake subdivision will not take any water from the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, but nevertheless could compromise that incredibly valuable resource.
The hundreds of thousands of Spokane and Kootenai county residents who depend on the underground river for water deserve some answers about how the drilling and operation of such an intense cluster of wells might affect its quality. Fortunately, the Liberty Lake Water & Sewer District has stepped in and started asking the right questions.
The district pumps from five wells, one of the biggest of which is recharged with water passing directly below the proposed Lakemore development east of the Huntwood factory on East Appleway. Two other district wells also might be affected, as well as others belonging to the Vera and Consolidated districts.
The 700 proposed Lakemore wells would not tap the aquifer layer. They will encase plastic pipe circulating a water/glycol solution that will use the ground temperature to warm homes in the winter and cool them in the summer. Heat pumps have been embraced as efficient, environmentally friendly climate control systems, which is one of the reasons the Lakemore developers want to use them.
At 450 feet, the heat pump wells would reach much deeper than the aquifer, but they will penetrate its gravels on their way down. The potential threats to the aquifer are several: contamination from whatever material the drill encounters; failure of the casings circulating the glycol/water solution; and migration away from the wells of the bentonite used to seal them.
How responsible the individual owners of these wells might be is another concern. If their systems failed or were somehow tainted, it’s not clear what responsibility they would have to report any problems.
There is no provision for monitoring the quality of the water flowing around the well shafts until it reaches the district’s pumps.
The city of Liberty Lake, which focused its review on the subdivision’s plat, paid little or no attention to what might happen below ground. That’s when the water district got involved. And good thing.
As far as the state is concerned, the wells do not require water rights because they will not take any water out of the aquifer. If a licensed driller punches the holes, the state is hands-off. Nor does the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have jurisdiction.
So the environmental impact statement the water district wants prepared will be the only review. If done right, it should become a model for future studies.
The 700 wells at Lakemore will be the densest cluster in Washington. At the least, there should be some requirement that they be inspected periodically – just as some septic systems are – to ensure they are working properly.
Efficient heating and cooling systems are good for everybody. Defective systems are quite the opposite.