Moses Lake dredge permitting moves forward

MOSES LAKE — Permitting sediment removal from Moses Lake is being considered by the City of Moses Lake’s Planning Commission.

The meeting is tonight at 7 p.m. inside Moses Lake City Council chambers, located at 321 S. Balsam St.

The public is invited to attend and offer oral or written comments about the Moses Lake Irrigation & Rehabilitation District’s project.

All comments must be submitted by tonight, unless the hearing is continued, explained Gil Alvarado, the city’s community development director, on Wednesday.

The project entails the dredging of about 300,000 cubic yards of material from the lake bed with a floating hydraulic dredge machine, said Alvarado.

A pond, or dewatering cell, is also created to dry the material, which is later hauled away.

The project involves removing “accumulated sediment around the irrigation district’s water intake pump to prevent sediment laden water from being pumped into Pelican Horn,” according to a project description.

“The primary project area of Parker Horn would be north of Neppel Crossing; however minor dredging is proposed south of the crossing at the district’s existing water pump intake and west of the bridge on the north shore of the lake,” according to the project description. “Within the primary project area a sediment trap would be dredged as designed in Coast and Harbor Engineering’s Technical Memorandum included with this application.”

Alvarado explained that since the project is so large, it wasn’t clear if the commission votes tonight to approve the permits for the project. A shoreline conditional use permit and conservancy and reclamation conditional use permit are being considered.

It’s because the planning commission likely hears new testimony to consider and research further.

If the commission hears information they weren’t aware of, they could continue the meeting and then make their decision, he said.

Other government agencies are expected to attend the meeting either in person or through a conference call, such as the state Department of Ecology and the state Department of Natural Resources.

The planning commission’s decision is final.

The city council only becomes involved is the project is appealed, Alvarado said.

The city council would hear the appeal and vote on whether to sustain the decision made by the planning commission.