Moses Lake council, school board discuss water use at joint meeting

MOSES LAKE — Water rates in Moses Lake will change as conditions change, and current Moses Lake City Council members do not intend to rely solely on water conservation by residents and businesses to alleviate the strain on the city’s water supply. Mayor Dustin Swartz said Thursday during a joint council meeting with the Moses Lake School Board that the city is looking at other options.  

“The objective here isn’t just to keep shrinking the amount of water people use in this community,” Swartz said. “We’re actively trying to expand the amount of water that we have available to us, so we don't view this as a permanent situation whatsoever.”  

Council and school board met to discuss water and water use, as well as joint projects including facility usage, cooperation between MLSD and the Moses Lake Police Department, the district and the Moses Lake Fire Department. Swartz said council members wanted to learn more about projects that could benefit from cooperation and the issues facing the district.  

Water rates were a focus following a question from MLSD Superintendent Carol Lewis about the anticipated future trajectory of rates. She showed a comparison of the MLSD water bills from August and September 2024 and the same two months in 2025. Those showed the district’s bill was about $40,000 higher in 2025. 

“I’m not sure that, long term, we’re going to be able to keep up with that (water rate),” she said. 

The irrigation schedule for the district’s playfields and athletic fields was substantially reduced in summer 2024, following the rejection of the district’s educational programs and operations levy and the discovery of some accounting errors that drained the district’s reserves. Council member David Skaug said in his opinion, the dry fields detracted not only from the school district but also from the community.  

“I think when people drive through Moses Lake, they see the parks, they see the schools, and that is a direct reflection on our pride in our community. And I know Sage Point (Elementary) was just a disaster,” Skaug said. “I think there needs to be something (in water use regulations) that talks about the area that you're servicing, and are you being prudent, or are you being excessive?” 

Swartz said council members are working on some rate adjustments that could bring some relief to a public agency like MLSD that has a lot of property that needs water. In 2025, district voters approved an EP&O levy, and district officials restarted irrigation of some MLSD property. Under the existing rate structure, the district incurred penalties for overuse, Lewis said.  

The school district has separate systems not connected to city water on some of its campuses, using separate wells. Lewis said MLSD has some water rights that would allow expansion of that system; that aquifer is at a shallower depth.  

“I know that’s a limited resource as well, but there are places where we could drill shallow wells and irrigate better,” Lewis said.  

That would be a longer-term solution, she said. 

Council member Mark Fancher said city officials are also looking for ways to drill into the shallower aquifer, which appears to be sustainable. City officials are looking at that source for drinking water as well as irrigation.  

“Some of our larger parks we can't get irrigation water to, even though we have a lake, and some of those things are cost-prohibitive,” Fancher said. “And so that is definitely something we want you to know, that we want that to happen when it can happen.” 

    Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz talks about water use and water rates during a Moses Lake City Council meeting with the Moses Lake School Board Thursday.