Dallesport Water District, commission in stalemate

The ATEC system filters out iron and manganese from the Dallesport drinking water. The new vessels would be added to the five already in the system.

But what started as good news went sideways just the next day, when the DPWD had its monthly meeting. Zoller made the trip to deliver the news.

Members of the water district say they were expecting her to deliver a check. Instead, they got a three-page document with a set of conditions the district would have to agree to and sign before the committee would consider releasing the money. And it would be a reimbursable grant, meaning the water district would have to pay for the vessels up front, then get reimbursed by the grant, a process they are familiar with and have participated in before.

One of those conditions appears to have a Catch-22, though. It would require the water district to lift a moratorium on new water hookups. The district says that they were given exceptional authority by the state health department to impose and maintain that moratorium, which was mandated by the health department through a separate agreement for the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport. Approval of the business park at the airport was contingent on hooking up a well, which has not been in use since it was drilled in 2008, to the DPWD system. That well is needed, the health department says, to provide adequate fire flow to the airport and local residents. 

In short, it appears the water district was not pleased with having last-minute new conditions added, and Zoller was similarly displeased with a reaction to what the committee considered reasonable conditions, telling Columbia Gorge News she had reviewed the conditions with the board and there was nothing out of order or restrictive with the conditions. In fact, Scott Dixon, manager of the DPWD, held discussions and agreed with several of the conditions. Zoller noted she would have to check with the state and local department of health regarding the moratorium.

“The past contract for the water rights at the airport with DPWD has been an ongoing controversy for several years,” she said. “It is a complicated issue that has to be handled at the legal level. As of today, determinations have been made by legal counsel, outside council and the legal counsel at the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration], who has oversight for the protection of government assets, of which the water right is. All legal counsel came to the same conclusion that the water right must be paid for prior to the transfer.

“In an attempt to assist DPWD through this process, the county and PUD has offered the grant that would bring DPWD into compliance with state agencies for their five-year plan and build out their water system. After they are in compliance, the second step would be to assist with moving the water right. It is a complicated and expensive process to move through and we were just trying to help get them moving in the right direction.’’

At some point, the district announced it was going into executive session. Before leaving, Zoller asked to have them phone their response to her by 8 p.m. that night.

Viewpoints differ on the reason for that request. Zoller said it was to make sure the clerks could get it on the agenda for the following week’s board of county commissioners meeting, and said it was obvious they would need to have the attorney look at it.

DPWD board members say they understood it as a take-it-or-lose-it deadline, and did not call that night.

The matter remains unresolved as of the press deadline.