Stimulus money for water projects dries up

By LEAH BETH WARD
Yakima Herald-Republic

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Yakima County was left out of some $104 million in federal stimulus funds that are about to become available for projects that improve the quality of drinking water and curb pollution of rivers, streams and aquifers.

Cities and towns in the county, including county government and the South Yakima Conservation District, applied to fund various projects but ultimately didn't meet all the criteria set by the federal government, namely, that they start construction by mid-June.

"The need is huge, and there are more worthy projects than we can fund," Secretary of Health Mary Selecky said in a news release.

The state Health Department oversaw drinking water projects while the state Department of Ecology ranked the water-pollution projects.

The Lower Yakima Valley has a documented problem with groundwater contaminated by nitrates. Many residents in unincorporated areas around Sunnyside rely on private wells that tap into shallow underground aquifers. A multi-agency task force is currently developing a list of recommendations for tackling the groundwater problem. A report is expected next month.

Vern Redifer, director of public services for the county, said his staff searched for a way to get planning money to aid that effort but came up dry.

"We fished around quite a bit on the pollution program," Redifer said. "But what they are doing is picking the low-hanging fruit to pump it into the economy fast."

The drinking-water funds were difficult to get because existing water systems had a priority. For example, Kittitas County Water District No. 5, which serves the Elk Meadows area, received a $313,100 loan to install an arsenic treatment facility.

There is no water district in the Outlook area near Sunnyside, which is served by private wells and septic systems. Yakima County has been studying ways to help Outlook with water and sewer but the plans weren't far enough along to meet the stimulus criteria.

"Neither of those were on the shelf ready to go," Redifer said.

Tim Church, spokesman for the state Health Department in Olympia, acknowledged that the time frame made it difficult to fund a lot of worthy projects.

"They had to show they would improve public health in economically disadvantaged areas and they had to be ready by June 16," Church said.

The cities of Yakima, Grandview, Toppenish and Union Gap all applied for water and sewer projects, but didn't make the cut.

Yakima County will be awarded $226,000 from another fund at the Department of Ecology to develop a technical manual for low-impact development guidelines for semi-arid areas. The idea, said Redifer, is get away from hard curbs and gutters that collect and concentrate water in a well that has to be injected into the ground.

An alternative would be to decentralize the water-collection process by using use more swales off the roadway that would filter the water through grass.

For a list of projects considered by Ecology, go to http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0910014.html

The Health Department's projects are at: www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/economic-rec.htm

 



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