Basin Briefs for Dec. 18, 2019

WARDEN — Rachel Granrath, of the engineering firm ECJ Alliance of Spokane, spoke to the Warden City Council during a regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10. ECJ Alliance is working on a report for Washington State Legislature concerning the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, formerly John Wayne Pioneer Trail, about the impact that the trail has on the communities and landowners it touches.

“They want to know if it is well liked in the communities, if people are trespassing and if they’re throwing garbage,” said Kriss Shuler, city clerk for the City of Warden.

The report will be used by the legislature to determine the funding that goes into the trail to improve its current condition.

MATTAWA — The commissioners for the Port of Mattawa passed a rate increase for wastewater rates. The new rates will go into effect on New Year’s Day.

“These rates haven’t been changed since 2008,” said Lars Leland, executive director for the Port of Mattawa. “This wastewater facility was built in conjunction with the Department of Ecology, Department of Commerce, Port of Mattawa and private wine producers to handle wine waste back in 2008. We have not changed these rates since 2008. As you can imagine, 10 years is a long time for a change. The Department of Ecology allowed us to operate this facility without a permit until 2016. The 2016 permit added a lot of other costs that adds approximately $194,000 of added annual expenses. This is from added testing, debt repayment and added repair/solids removal reserves.”

The wastewater rates were increased from 4.5 cents per gallon to 5.5 cents per gallon. Part of the money collected will go towards solids removal and repair reserves.