LETTER: Local water use must be protected

In January 2004 we returned home from a trip. The drive had been grueling because of icy roads and frigid temperatures. We wanted to warm up with a hot shower but when we turned on the water, there was only a dribble. We thought the pipes had frozen but they hadn’t. Then we thought the pump had broken. Fortunately, we were able to get an expert out the next day.

The original 64-foot well dug in 1978 had tapped good water flow at 40 feet. When the pump was pulled, it was obvious from calcium deposits on the pipe the water had dropped a foot per year. Our well was dry — we had to dig a new one.

In April we attended three sessions on the hydrology of the Flathead Valley presented by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. We learned the deep aquifer, the most utilized aquifer in the valley, and the shallow aquifer are replenished by snowmelt from the Swan and Salish Ranges — not the Flathead River. The speaker suggested we as a community should start monitoring programs and work to protect water from those mountains.

The bureau’s study was commissioned because the Flathead experienced a 25 percent population increase over a decade and localized water declines had raised concern. The study was good but incomplete. The valley is expected to add 23,000 residents in the next three decades, increasing demand. Recent droughts have pushed water usage upward. The scientists said no modeling had been done to account for climate change, higher temperatures, early snowmelt and drought.

Our water use is accelerating, our supply likely to diminish. We believe funding should be allocated by the Legislature for additional studies and a moratorium placed on commercial bottling plant proposals until a future supply-demand forecast is completed.

—Mary Garner, Kalispell