Connecting Us - Sustaining Progress (CUSP)

Environment & Sustainability Committee City of Idaho Falls February 26, 2020 Environment & Sustainability 10:30 a.m. CUSP Committee Meeting Activity Center Chair: Kris Millgate 1575 N. Skyline Dr. Vice-Chair: Stephanie Austad Idaho Falls, ID 83402 MINUTES Roll Call: Adams C. X Evaly, J. X Millgate K. Silverman H. X Austad S. X Haney, C. Morales K. Vazhnik V. X X Cherry B. X Lepler K. Sehlke G. Call to Order: The meeting called to order at 10:37 a.m. by committee chair Kris Millgate. Approval of Minutes: Bob Cherry motioned to approve the 02/12/20 minutes Katelyn Morales seconded the motion All in Favor Speaker: David Richards, City of Idaho Falls Water Superintendent See attached Water Quantity presentation (cont. from 02/12/20 meeting) No treatment required for our aquifer water. City of IF chlorinates for water storage. Aquifer extends from Rexburg to Thousand Springs. Total (Ground and surface) Water Use: 2015: 1.6% is cities; 86.3 Agricultural Irrigation; Other: 12.2 (Mgal per day) USGS Circular 1441 Groundwater Use: 2015: 4.6% cities; 91.6% Irrigation; 3.8% other (Mgal per day) Surface Water Coalition: 2017: Agreement to recharge aquifer in north to mitigate problems in south Idaho 2018: Cities to provide 7650 acre-feet per year mitigation and 9640 if not mitigated. Provides a safe harbor from spring rights water calls Agreement term limits: Dec 31, 2053 Combined City pumping reaches 120,000 acre-feet per year,  Environment & Sustainability Committee Sand Creek Recharge Site: Recharges from sand creek to the recharge site. 2500 to 3000 acre feet into ground. 3200 acre feet = 1 billion gallons City of IF tests the water that goes into the recharge site to ensure contaminated water isn’t going into aquifer. Water Saving Tools in Toolbox: Convert city parks from groundwater to surface water irrigation Metering Local-scape; xeriscape Wastewater effluent recharge Direct wastewater reuse Adams: What is the biggest threat to our water supply? Richards: The agricultural contaminants (bacteria, nitrates, semi VOCs (man- made pesticides), nitrates. Austad: What are we currently doing to educate about local-scaping? Richards: Mayor has created committee to find ways to use less water (street scapes). Talking to nurseries to promote local plants. Committee contact: city horticulturalist Lee Washburn Cherry: Is their goal to do demonstrations? Richards: Yes, they are planning a demonstration. Master gardeners also have a demo near Sandy Downs that is demonstrating local plants. There is also a native plant society. Adams: Is there anyone integrating sod/planting requirements so the plants are not directly adjacent to concrete, but instead has a buffer area of mulch? Richards: Yes. Speaker: Carlin Feisthamel, Idaho DEQ water quality engineer We have very clean water in eastern Idaho with no industry that creates a lot of contamination. We rarely see any pesticide contamination and is usually not groundwater borne. Discussed water quality in Eastern Idaho. Some areas have action plans for nitrate and the results are trending positively. What is IDEQ doing to protect the aquifer: Limit use of flood irrigation; using ground water and pivots to just use what you need directly at the plant But that increases aquifer downdraw and so aquifer recharge is needed. At discharge sites, you have a large amount of water going through a small amount of dirt, so the potential for contamination increases.  Environment & Sustainability Committee IDEQ has a monitoring program for discharge sites; monitor raw water going in (bacterial main concern because it is the most rapid health consequence). Monitor for VOCs (oil-based) herbicides, pesticides, e-coli, heavy metals. Also do a down-gradient well and up-gradient well. Non-detectable levels of non-coliform source contamination. Looking at making the Sand Creek site larger. Cherry: Can you tell if e-coli is animal or human caused? Feisthamel: Hard to tell. We do occasional events of e-coli in the island park area (very rare) because of fractured basalt and how fast the water enters the aquifer. Adams: What are risks associated with flood events overcoming the agricultural lagoons and causing contamination? Feisthamel/Richards: Some smaller cities still have lagoons. City wellheads must be located above flood levels. Cherry: How will climate change affect our water quality? Feisthamel/Richards: We have seen an increase in water use due to hotter weather. Starting to see a little more bacteria growth due to warmer ground conditions and thus warmer pipes. Austad: Has there been any attempt to estimate the life of the aquifer? Feisthamel: Not that he is aware of. Millgate: Does the city directly dump waste into the snake river? Feisthamel/Richards: Not untreated water. There may be areas where stormwater is discharged. They typically go through a stormwater pond first, which are designed to treat naturally. Wastewater treatment put 9-10 M gallons per day into the river. The city has the right to that water until it returns to the river. The city does not receive any credit for returning it to the river - cannot remove again. Pharmaceuticals are a big issue. Austad: What are the biggest things that each household could do? Richards: Flushable wipes clog pumps – they are not flushable; medications; non-organics are also issues. Haney: How often should private wells be tested and how do you go about it? Feisthamel: Go to Teton Labs – test for total coliform bacteria ($20). At least 2 times/year. Nitrates once every few years (1-3 mg/liter is average in our area). Public Comment: No public attendees. Summary of Steering Committee Meeting: lack of guidance out of the gate is common concern committed to providing deliverables to steering chair in September To consider:  Environment & Sustainability Committee If steering committee puts together a community survey, what would EnS want to ask? (1 or 2 questions) Target Practice: Decide not to debate more targets and hold at 3 targets for now Finalize Targets: Waste Water Energy Mini Committee assignments: Waste: Catherine Haney, Water: Stephanie Austad, Jennifer Evaly, Kris Millgate, Heather Silverman Energy: Colby Adams, Bob Cherry. Katelyn Morales Unassigned: Katrin Lepler, Gerry Sehlke, Veronika Vazhnik, Adams: add resilience to each target Kris: education is also part of every target Cherry: add section at end of report for other targets to investigate. Call for Agenda Items: Focus on energy in March Invite Idaho Falls Power Cancelling March 25 meeting due to spring break Notify city of cigarette smell and cat in meeting room Set Next Meeting Date/Time: March 11, 2020 10:30 am – Activity Center Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m. by committee chair Kris Millgate. END NOTES Recorded by: Stephanie Austad Committee vice-chair and Kris Millgate Committee chair CITY OF IDAHO FALLS GROUNDWATER RECHARGE CUSP PRESENTATION – FEBRUARY 2020 By: David Richards, PE Water Superintendent CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 2015 Idaho Water Use Statistics  CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE Surface Water Coalition/Coalition of Cities Settlement Agreement - 2018 Major Agreement Provisions • Cities to provide 7,650 acre-feet per year mitigation ▪ Delivery to IWRB for managed aquifer recharge ▪ Private managed aquifer recharge ▪ Groundwater to surface water conversions ▪ Dry up of irrigated lands • Cities to provide 9,640 acre-feet per year mitigation ▪ If goals of IGWA-SWC Settlement Agreement not met • Mitigation volume compliance met on 5-yr rolling average • Annual reporting • Will be incorporated into ESPA Groundwater Management Plan • Safe harbor from spring rights water calls • Agreement term limits ▪ City pumping reaches 120,000 acre-feet per year (currently at 62,500 acre-feet per year), or ▪ December 31, 2053 CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE Internal City Mitigation Allocation Agreement Major Provisions • Mitigation amount factors ▪ Volume pumped by City ▪ Priority date of existing City water rights • Idaho Falls mitigation amount ▪ 3,634.7 acre-feet per year initially ▪ 3,190.9 acre-feet per year with addition of more cities to agreement  CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE Sand Creek Recharge Site Vicinity SAND POINTE SUBDIVISION SAND CREEK GC SAND DUNE SAND CREEK RECHARGE SITE SANDY DOWNS RACE TRACK  CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE Source Water Sustainability – Managed Aquifer Recharge Eagle Scout Project First Fill Diversion Gate Sand Creek Recharge Site – First Private MAR Site in Idaho  CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE City of Idaho Falls 2019 Mitigation Efforts Egin Bench Site Sand Creek Site 2019 Groundwater Quality Monitoring: 156 Bacteria Tests; 1,917 Field Parameter Tests; 686 Laboratory Tests  CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE City of Idaho Falls Next Steps for Mitigation Tools in Our Toolbox: • Conversion of large City parks from groundwater to surface water irrigation. ▪ Pinecrest Golf Course ▪ Tautphaus Park ▪ Freeman Park ▪ Community Park • Conservation measures ▪ Metering ▪ Local-scape; Xeriscape • Additional local recharge sites • Wastewater effluent recharge • Direct wastewater reuse CITY OF IDAHO FALLS – GROUNDWATER RECHARGE CITY OF IDAHO FALLS GROUNDWATER RECHARGE CUSP PRESENTATION – FEBRUARY 2020 ANY QUESTIONS???