Mattawa well rehab underway

MATTAWA — The second phase of a project to rehabilitate Mattawa’s oldest well is underway with the removal of the old well house in Hund Memorial Park.

“You’ll see a lot of machinery at the park,” said Public Works Director Juan Ledezma at the Nov. 21 Mattawa City Council meeting. “Well 2 has been demolished. The building itself is demolished, the foundation, that’s all been demolished.” 

Water and water capacity has been a subject of discussion in Mattawa for a couple of years; one housing development is under construction in town and people have expressed interest in building additional housing. Available water connections are limited, however.

Rehabilitating Well 2 will allow the city to increase its available water connections, according to a report from Jamin Ankney of Gray and Osborne, the city’s engineers, earlier this year. 

“This project is being paid for by the Public Works Trust Fund — that’s a partial loan and partial grant,” Ledezma said.  

In May, Ankney told council members that tests on the well indicated it could accommodate a bigger pump with an estimated capacity of about 700 gallons per minute. That raised the project cost to about $2.6 million.  

“You get almost twice the capacity,” Ankney said. “But the pump and the motor and all the infrastructure are a little bit more expensive to handle that larger pump.” 

Ledezma said additional evaluation of the well revealed a possible complication. 

“The well casing seems to be a little bit slanted, so the plan is to do a study and see if it angles in maybe 20 feet,” he said. “It is quite a significant change. And to install the motor (the well casing) does have to be aligned. The plan is to get an alignment done and see if there’s any additional damage that wasn’t known.” 

City officials opted to upgrade the well house by adding a performance stage to one side, which also increased the project cost, Ankney said.  

Ledezma said the work is and will be ongoing. City officials have not announced an anticipated completion date.  

“They’re going to be working through the winter, weather permitting,” he said. “You’ll see more machinery throughout (the winter).”