Sodaville Mayor Brian Lewis told City Council that getting a stamp of approval from the state for water rights is the most pressing concern at the moment for well six.
During the city’s July 18 meeting, Lewis shared that the city has been able to secure an engineer for the underground portion of the well project, but there is still an ongoing search for an engineer to work the above-ground portion.
Meanwhile, securing the water rights must first be set in stone. That’s where GSI Water Solutions Inc. comes in as it works with the city to secure water rights for well six.
Chuck Nugent, from Nugent Drilling, told Lewis there is plenty of water in the valley, but it boils down to the question of whether the state will essentially let Sodaville access it.
As GSI seeks to keep all options on the table for a better chance at gaining water rights, they ask the city to continue trying to figure out what it will take to get well five back online without putting money into it yet. That’s because sometimes, in order to obtain water rights, one must give up water rights to another well, and if that’s the case for Sodaville, it would make sense to give up well five since it’s non-functional.
“It’s almost impossible to get a new water right,” Lewis said.
Lewis also shared that he’s talked to well drillers who highlighted the fact that obtaining water rights is a real issue.
“Sometimes the water rights can kill a whole project because the OWRD (Oregon Water Resources Department) gets all the paperwork and everything, and they reject it,” Lewis said. “Then there’s nowhere to go. If you don’t have the water rights, you can’t do the project.”
The application to submit for water rights immediately became a daunting task when Lewis saw the pages he would need to fill out, and if anything was done incorrectly on those documents, it could be rejected or it could delay the process. GSI is helping with the forms.
When or if water rights are obtained for well six, Nugent estimated the work could be done for up to $40,000.
Regarding well five, the mayor shared that Nugent informed him he was involved with rehabbing well five some time ago and he had told the city’s water master at that time not to run the well dry because it could ruin the pump. According to Lewis, the former water master “continuously ran it dry” and Nugent believes that’s what took the well offline after sucking in sand and sediment. He advised Lewis that the city should hold off on “throwing a bunch of money at it” just yet.
In other business:
- City Administrator/Recorder Molly McGuire provided an update on the city’s finances and reported she was able to get the water bills updated and sent out as she settles into her new role with the city. She also reported she has been meeting with key players regarding the well projects to help the city move forward.
- McGuire announced two council positions are open for this year’s election cycle.
- Public Works Director JD Burns reported an 8.1% water loss for the month. He said the reservoir this week has stayed above 25 feet, about three feet shy of “full.” He anticipates placing water restrictions into effect on July 31.
- The council approved a motion allowing an easement for Consumers Power Inc. to permanently install a power transformer for a new home built on Ridge Street.