Commissioners declare Hoodoo water emergency

Latah County commissioners declared an emergency Wednesday for Harvard’s Hoodoo Water and Sewer District because the unincorporated town’s lone drinking water well is not producing enough water for the people it serves.

The water and sewer district declared an emergency Tuesday, said Kristina Gillespie-Jaques, Mountain Waterworks business manager.

Gillespie-Jaques said the water and sewer district hired Mountain Waterworks, a water and wastewater utility engineering company based in Boise with its nearest office in Lewiston, to conduct a facilities plan for the district’s water system. The water emergency happened prior to launching the facilities’ planning process.

She told the county commissioners during Wednesday’s meeting that the well is only pumping about 26 gallons of water per minute. She said the 105-foot deep well pumps for about 30 minutes before shutting down. The Harvard water systems operator does not believe the pump is malfunctioning, Gillespie-Jaques said.

Because of the high demand for well services, she said it will take about 10 days before a well drilling contractor in Hayden Lake, Idaho, can investigate the problem.

While the well’s problem has not been identified, Gillespie-Jaques said the region’s severe drought and declining aquifer levels have led to well issues in other towns in the area.

“That’s really where the problem stems from,” she said.

In the meantime, the city of Potlatch has provided about 6,000 gallons of water per day from one of its reservoirs and the city of Deary is willing to assist as well, Gillespie-Jaques said.

While both cities are willing to help its Harvard neighbor, she said both are nervous about providing water because they want to have enough in the event of a fire.

“This is a bad situation all around,” Gillespie-Jacques said.

She said the Lewiston entity transporting the water from Potlatch to Harvard has stopped doing so because it was needed to respond to a fire in the area.

A boil order has been in place for Harvard residents using the well because of coliform bacteria discovered in the drinking water.

“It’s an absolute perfect storm right now,” she said.

The emergency declaration, which is in effect for seven days, can help the water and sewer district secure funding from state and/or federal agencies, Latah County Commissioner Tom Lamar said after the meeting.

Latah County commissioners also signed an emergency declaration in 2019 for the water and sewer district after a water supply problem. At that time, crews determined rusty corrosion in pipes partially blocked water flow and prevented the water storage tank from filling adequately.

Meanwhile, Genesee is back to operating on two drinking water wells after Well 5 returned to full-time service June 30, Genesee Maintenance Supervisor Dustin Brinkly said.

Well 5 exceeded the city’s minimum level for full operation June 21 so the city activated Well 3, which had been out of service since last year because of fluctuating nitrate levels in the water.

Brinkly said Well 5 aquifer levels recovered to a point to turn the well pump back on last week.

Because Well 3 is still in operation, the drinking water warning is still in effect. The warning says not to give tap water to infants younger than the age of 6 months. Those younger than 6 months who drink water containing nitrate in excess of the maximum contaminant level could become seriously ill, and if untreated, may die.

The city’s website says Well 3’s nitrate level on June 30 was 9.6 mg/L, which is under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level of 10.4 mg/L.

Brinkly said Well 5 is unlikely at this time to support the town’s water demand by itself, which is why Well 3 — albeit with high nitrate levels — is still operating.

Brinkly said he expects a potable water tank to be available to residents starting Friday at the Genesee Fire Station. He said people will be able to fill containers with drinking water 24 hours a day. The city has been providing bottled drinking water to residents at the fire station.

With two wells in operation, Brinkly said the city plans to remove the irrigation tanks that people could draw water from for outdoor irrigation. He said the city is asking residents with odd-numbered addresses to water on odd-numbered days and people with even-numbered addresses to water on even-numbered days.

As for the new well being drilled on the northwest side of town, Brinkly said crews have drilled 590 feet into the earth and that the well is producing around 50 gallons of water per minute. He said the target is 100 to 200 gallons a minute and the goal is to drill down 1,000 feet. So, he hopes the contractor will find more water in the next 410 feet.

Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.