Project Details
- Water Resources
Client
Lincoln County Conservation District
Date
2021 – Present
Location
Eastern Washington
Team Members
Allan Barton
Ashleigh Gertsch, GIT
Benjamin Lee, PE, CWRE
Katie Grabow
Mina Walters
Sarah Weeks, LHg
Lincoln County Regional Water Supply Planning
Landau Associates is assisting the Columbia Basin Sustainable Water Coalition (CBSWC) with water supply planning for small, rural communities in the Mid-Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. Landau is acting as the Groundwater Consultant for the CBSWC. Funding for the coalition is through a WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that is administered by the Lincoln County Conservation District (LCCD). Landau assisted LCCD and the Washington Department of Health with preparation of the successful grant application. That grant funding provided seed money to establish the coalition and complete certain preliminary projects.
The Challenge
The CBSWC was convened to develop and implement a strategy for sustainable water supply for rural municipalities that rely on groundwater in the Mid-Columbia Basin, an area that has experienced significant groundwater level declines. Board members include representatives from the City of Moses Lake and Othello, the Town of Lind, LCCD, the Columbia Basin Conservation District, and Franklin, Lincoln, and Grant Counties.
The project area has more than 137 Group A community water systems that rely on groundwater to provide potable water to over 90,000 residents.
Our Approach
Landau is responsible for providing expert technical advice to the CBSWC. The Landau team facilitates technical presentations that explore solution alternatives at monthly CBSWC meetings. Landau also assists with networking to state, municipal, federal, and other stakeholders in the Mid-Columbia Basin to help understand water resource needs and appropriate solutions.
The Solution
In addition to providing technical direction to the CBSWC, Landau is responsible for implementing specific data gathering tasks.
These tasks include designing a long-term groundwater monitoring network to define the water supply problem, developing project water supply alternatives, and preparing a preliminary watershed management plan.
Landau expects to hear more from the CBSWC as they become formalized as a standalone entity and embark on implementation of regional-scale sustainable water supply solutions.
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