City will install a third water well this summer

The Columbia Falls City Council last week approved a contract for a new water well to bolster the city’s water supply.

LHC won the $1.917 million bid for the well, which will be dug near the city’s garage at Horine Park.

The bid includes the well, pump, well house and backup generator. It also includes a 12-inch line extension to Beth Road, Talbott Road and Veteran’s Drive.

One major part of the expense is that the city needed a permit to dig under the railroad tracks.

The city currently has two wells, but it needs a third one for future growth and to sustain water pressure in the event of an emergency.

If there were major fire in the summer months with water levels low and people irrigating, the city’s water system might not be able to handle it.

Columbia Falls currently operates a pair of wells to supply its water, referred to as the Clare Park and LP wells, which feed water to a single 2.2 million gallon storage tank. Water production from the Clare Park well already exceeds the city’s current deep aquifer water rights and the current supply does not meet state Department of Environmental Quality requirements.

The well will be paid for through a state revolving loan fund loan and funds from the city’s sewer and water fund. The council previously instituted a modest rate increase to water rates to help pay for the new well.

Work on the new well should start sometime next month.