Airway Heights water safe to drink, officials say.
Airway Heights officials said Thursday that the city’s water supply is now safe to drink.
Since the discovery of the high levels of contamination, the city began to flush its pipes with Spokane water.
But it took three weeks for enough of Spokane’s water to clean out the system to levels considered safe to drink.
Any water restriction must be approved by the City Council and would likely mean establishing an odd-even day watering schedule.
Although Spokane can pull as much water as needed from the aquifer, Anderson said how much Airway Heights can receive is limited by the connections to Spokane’s water system.
Or, they could tap into a Fairchild Air Force Base water line that runs through the city of Airway Heights.
“And I don’t blame them.” Wolffy’s Hamburgers owner Justin Davis also said his business was down significantly.
“The biggest thing is the customers are scared,” he said.
At first the city provided restaurants with potable water, Anderson said.

Reducing Dhaka’s water crisis.
WATER crisis is the last thing Dhaka’s people would expect in the midst of Ramadan, although the city has a history of frequently-interrupted water supply.
Every summer, people face the agonising shortage of fresh drinking water in some neighbourhoods – with oft-repeated excuses from the authorities.
However, water scarcity can be extremely inconvenient during Ramadan.
Besides, this is arguably the hottest season and residents of Dhaka are already irritated by excessive traffic jams.
Despite numerous steps being taken in the past to reduce occasional water shortages, the residents of Rayer Bazar are having a difficult time.
Recently, WASA introduced a 24-hour hotline for city-dwellers to file complaints regarding problems with water supply but the authority is yet to bring a long-term solution.
Since Dhaka lacks an effective strategy or the means to permanently stop its water problems, an early warning system based on emergency directives to guide citizens during the crises can be adopted and maintained annually.
Furthermore, the government should ensure maximum level of water supply at least for the month of Ramadan.
Apart from public health, water is everyone’s fundamental right and hence nobody should be deprived of it.

At the May meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, councilmembers once again took up the issue of the Delta Plan amendment regarding conveyance, storage, and operations.
The draft Delta Plan conveyance, storage, and operations amendment includes recommendations for Delta water management system operations and supporting infrastructure improvements that are intended together and in combination with existing Delta Plan policies and recommendations, to further the coequal goals.
There are three things that move things around in the system: tides, rivers, and exports.
“Almost every one of these other channels is conveying river water or exports or whatever so it’s a pass through system, it’s a conveyance system essentially,” he said.
So for example, we could restore tidal wetlands in Suisun Marsh and improve survival in the north Delta without a single salmon going into Suisun Marsh.” “So to conclude, it’s not just rivers and exports that are moving things around the system, it’s not just rivers and exports that are affecting organisms in the Delta, it’s these three things here that work together that we can work with to actually help achieve the coequal goals.”
“We need to know what ecosystem restoration looks like in order to know what kind of conveyance is acceptable and desirable and what kind of additional storage is acceptable and desirable.” Regarding ecosystem function, the best available science reveals that the key to any restoration of ecosystem function in the Delta will require an improvement in timing and the volume of water flowing into, through, and out of the Delta, Dr. Rosenfield said.
“There are plenty of uncertainties out there that are valid things to consider, but the draft plan that I’m reading seems to be promoting, we need new conveyance of a certain type to achieve our goals when I haven’t seen what the goals actually mean in order to evaluate what kind of conveyance you’ll need or what kind of storage you’ll need.” “In closing, describing the new conveyance and storage plans in the context of how they serve the dual goals is really critical, because simply put, the need for alternative conveyance, storage, and operation depends entirely on how much water will be withdrawn from the Delta in the future,” Dr. Rosenfield concluded.
There’s no scientific debate about that.” “The mechanism – there’s a lot of discussion,” Dr. Rosenfield continued.
So I’m not trying to duck your question … “ “What I’m wondering is whether there are any circumstances where I change in point of diversion or an isolated facility in combination with any other set of solutions that you’ve worked on with BDCP and elsewhere would make sense?,” asked Councilmember Johnston.
“The Bay Institute and myself as professional are willing to look into all potential solutions to improve the status quo, including a different point of diversion, different storage south of Delta, different conveyance, and different operations,” said Dr. Rosenfield.

Records Show Hundreds of Wells Could Leak CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas— Citing new records showing the potential for drinking water contamination around Corpus Christi, the Center for Biological Diversity today supplemented its legal protest to a federal oil and gas lease sale planned for Thursday.
The leases would allow fracking within and near several Texas reservoirs and dams that supply drinking water to Corpus Christi and other cities.
Since its original protest was filed, the Center has obtained records showing that old plugged wells are leaking into the Choke Canyon reservoir.
More than 100 active oil wells and seven gas wells are within the reservoir — many within 2 miles of lease-sale parcels.
There are four leaking wells at Choke Canyon and hundreds of existing wells at Choke Canyon, Lake Somerville and Lake Texana that could potentially leak, according to public records.
If new wells are drilled on new federal leases, more high-pressure fracking could push chemical-laden fluid into old wells, contaminating water supplies if the old wells leak.
The Center’s protest cites the BLM’s failure to consider Bureau of Reclamation recommendations for more analysis in the face of fracking-caused earthquake risks to Choke Canyon dam.
Since the Center filed its original protest in February, public records obtained from the Texas Railroad Commission and Bureau of Reclamation revealed that four plugged wells are leaking gas, two within and two near Choke Canyon Reservoir, a primary Corpus Christi water supply.
But records show that since then, federal, state and Corpus Christi officials have considered underwater inspections of the leaking wells.
It’s alarming that they’re allowing this lease sale to continue.” Conservation groups and the city of Corpus Christi filed formal protests in February challenging the leasing plan, raising concerns about spills, water contamination and earthquakes that could jeopardize dam integrity and harm downstream water users.

Threats to underground water contamination.
There is an increase in borehole drilling and digging of wells in urban areas, especially in new residential areas because of unavailability of reticulated water services.In addition, there are no sewer services in these areas, construction of septic tanks evades local authorities’ by laws.
Consequently, there is underground water contamination in some of the boreholes and wells.
In this regard, it is important for every household to know the quality of water they are drinking and using, to avoid adverse health effects.
This is forcing people to construct their own septic tanks, latrines, boreholes and deep wells.
The main form of contamination by septic tanks and latrines is of bacterial nature e.g. faecal coliform.
Sewage bursts Sewage pipe bursts are a threat to underground water quality.
In Harare, most of the sprouting new residential areas are built on wetlands and these wetlands have been purifying water for years.
In some cases the geological environment is linked to chronic diseases such as renal failure due to the presence of lethal doses of metals.
Examples of different water qualities caused by geological rock structure are: hardness of water, high salinity, high fluoride levels which causes rusty teeth, high levels of metals.

Article from U.S. Conference of Mayors: ‘Western Cities Water Supply Challenges’.
Local governments in California invested $10.9 billion in 2000 and doubled that investment to $21.5 billion by 2013.
Safe drinking water and protection of water quality are costly activities for local government, and strong local balance sheets and resources are a pre-requisite for investment.
Here too, like investment in water and sewer, California local government finances tell a positive story.
Public water and sewer are financed with a combination of debt and ‘fee for services’ revenues from customers (households/rate payers).
Fees for water and sewer services are usually a component of own source revenue.
The latest local government Census data in California indicates that own source revenue increased 88% from 2000 to 2014, and local investment in public water and sewer has risen along with and above the national average at 102%.
Cities introduce resiliency by diversifying water supply sources.
Mayors and national experts participating in the Santa Barbara conference discussed a variety of city and regional projects they are investing heavily in, and the information is emerging on the cost of these various diversification options compared to traditional single-source treatment costs.
A variety of local solution sets and practices were discussed and outlined in the linked article.

Under MJSA phase II, Rajasthan government intends to construct/repair 35,000 rainwater collection reservoirs in 4200 villages and 66 cities.
On the last day of Rajasthan SP collector conference, chief minister Raje instructed the water department officers to wind up this project before the onset of monsoons in the state.
More workers and engineers will be involved in this project so they can finish the pending projects in two shifts.
Wealth started pouring in from all sections of the society.
Gradually, everyone including students, cops, soldiers, NGOs, NCC cadets, private firms, businessmen and religious bodies joined India’s biggest public rainwater harvesting drive.
Following this, many esteemed officers of state, including the cabinet ministers, chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, district collectors, senior police officers and other key officials of the state fell into her footsteps and volunteered to donate their monthly salaries.
CM Raje’s Advice to State Officers on the Last Day of Collector SP Conference… Speed up construction in Phase II Considering that MJSA phase I completed before time—all thanks to swift planning, monitoring and use of advanced technology, Raje advised the officers to maintain this pace in the second phase, as well.
She advised the officers to keep an eye on fund collection, reservoir construction, waste disposal, restoration of bawdis and mass plantation of trees.
The officers of water works department exchanged novel ideas and technologies to make MJSA a huge success in Rajasthan.
This is how the 4-day collector SP conference in Rajasthan concluded with CM Raje setting goals for various departments.

NEWS WORTH NOTING: Klamath River emergency dilution flows not required in 2017; Bill to protect Clear Lake passes State Assembly, moves to Senate; New water source for Lake Camanche Village moves forward.
Klamath River Emergency Dilution Flows Not Required in 2017 From the Bureau of Reclamation: The Bureau of Reclamation announces that Klamath River emergency dilution flows will not be required in 2017 to mitigate the effects of a parasite called Ceratanova shasta (or C. shasta) on outmigrating juvenile salmon.
The winter-spring flows were conducted on multiple occasions during February and March 2017, after which Reclamation shifted its focus to planning for implementation of emergency dilution flows, which the court ordered to be implemented between April 1 and June 15 if certain disease thresholds were exceeded.
Specifically, the court ordered Reclamation to utilize up to 50 thousand acre feet to implement emergency dilution flows if: C. Shasta spore concentrations exceed 5 spores/liter (non-specific genotype) based on quantitative polymerase chain reaction at any sampling station, or Prevalence of infection of all captured juvenile Chinook salmon exceeds 20 percent for the preceding week at the Kinsman Rotary Screw Trap site.
These flows would be required until June 15 or until 80 percent of juvenile salmon had outmigrated if either of the preceding two thresholds were exceeded.
Clear Lake is also home to the Clear Lake Hitch, a federally-endangered fish, and holds environmental significance for the surrounding region’s plant and animal life.
“This Committee and the maintenance of a healthy Clear Lake will be a community effort,” said Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry.
Aguiar-Curry represents the 4th Assembly District, which includes all of Lake and Napa Counties, parts of Colusa County, all of Yolo County except West Sacramento, Dixon in Solano County and Rohnert Park in Sonoma County.
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——————— About News Worth Noting: News Worth Noting is a collection of press releases, media statements, and other materials produced by federal, state, and local government agencies, water agencies, and academic institutions, as well as non-profit and advocacy organizations.

Ms de Lille was speaking at a Council meeting, announcing heightened level four water restrictions in Cape Town as it grapples with the worst drought it has seen in a century.
“Water is not to be taken for granted.
To run out of useable water is to be presented with a crisis of catastrophic proportions.
What has worked very well in the past may not be the best model going forward,” she continued.
Ms de Lille said the city traditionally relied on winter rains to replenish its water levels, but with poor rainfall thus far during May, the confidence in weather prediction is low.
“We need a new relationship with water.
It does not mean that our lives should be diminished or the economy negatively affected.” Tighter restrictions de Lille said the new water restrictions that will mitigate the short term possibility of acute water shortages and ensure that Cape Town builds a water resilient city in the medium- to long-term.
Think 100 litres,” she said.
“We are in a critical situation and to build resilience to acute water shortages we need to push even harder and reduce water usage city-wide to 500 million litres of water per day…as Council will not meet until the end of July, I am also requesting Council to support further restrictions, 4B, that can be implemented in the next 60 days,” de Lille added.
Such restrictions would be more closely aligned with a 500 million litre per day goal, and would be consequently more restrictive.

Reservoirs supplying city of 4 million are nearing bottom during record-setting drought.
A city of 4 million people, Cape Town is banning outdoor water use in response to the worst drought in more than a century.
“Flushing only when needed can help save up to 9 liters (2.4 gallons) of water per flush.” Every drop counts these days in South Africa’s second-largest city.
“The feeling is that we should be OK this year,” Kristy Carden, a water management researcher at the University of Cape Town’s Future Water Institute, told Circle of Blue.
Peak use in January, which is the height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere and when demand is highest, was down roughly 20 percent compared to a year ago.
Water managers want daily use to fall to 450 megaliters through the winter, an “easily achievable target,” according to the Future Water Institute.
A megaliter is one million liters, or 264,000 gallons.
It is a move that Cape Town officials are considering, if they need to tap the bottom 10 percent of their reservoirs.
“There is little doubt that the Western Cape needs to prepare, in the longer term, for a drier climate,” according to the Alliance for Collaboration and Earth Systems Science.
Treated residential wastewater and rainfall are funneled to filtration basins that replenish the aquifer.