Mattawa Council approves well rehabilitation

MATTAWA — Water, and ensuring there’s enough of it, was a subject of discussion at the Mattawa City Council meeting Thursday.

Council members voted unanimously to rehabilitate one of the city’s three wells, following a recommendation from Nancy Wetch of Gray & Osborne, the city’s engineers. The well is located in Hund Park.

“This well is your oldest well - I think it dates back to the late Seventies, early Eighties,” Wetch said. “At this time, it’s not running at all.”

Engineers and city employees reviewed Mattawa’s existing water system in 2020, and from that came a recommendation to update the electronic systems on the Hund Park well, and if necessary do some work on the well itself.

“It needs an updated warning system, updated controls, everything updated,” Wetch said.

Council members approved an examination of the existing equipment as the first step in the process.

“(The hydrogeologists) will come in and take a closer look at the well’s formation itself because of its age, and see if there’s anything we want to do to improve its performance,” Wetch said. “Once they’ve determined exactly what the well can produce, and if any improvements are needed to the well itself, the second part would be to do those improvements.”

Wetch said the city must bring the well back into service to meet Washington Department of Health requirements to serve its current population.

“Because they require all this reliability and redundancy, you actually need all three wells to operate,” Wetch said. “So it’s not like you’re out of water - you certainly haven’t run out of water.”

Council members are scheduled to decide Dec. 8 whether or not to accept an application to annex 40 acres next to Portage Avenue, known as the Bordero property. The applicant, Drew Scott of CAD Homes, has said his company plans to build homes on the land.

Council member Fabiola Hernandez asked about possible development and if the city could provide water to that development, or others that might be proposed.

“My message for your development is if you follow your (water) plan, you can support development,” Wetch said. “At the point you (stop) following your plan - whether it’s operations, maintenance or capital - you won’t be able to support development.”

Hernandez said there seemed to be a discrepancy, with the need to bring an existing well back into service to accommodate the current population.

“People think we don’t want to add the Bodrero (development) to the city, but it’s more about the water,” Hernandez said.

Wetch said the city does have adequate water supplies, as long as city officials follow the steps outlined in the city’s water plan, which include developing a new well and obtaining additional water rights.

“At this point we pretty much see how you can support the developments that have been proposed that we see,” Wetch said. “So you can support those connections.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.