Kootenai County Aquifer Protection District
What it will do:
Households above the Rathdrum/Spokane Valley Aquifer would pay $6 per year and businesses would pay $12 to fund programs aimed at preventing pollution and monitoring the quality of the region's underwater drinking source.
The State of Idaho currently spends about $90,000 on programs aimed at protecting this aquifer, but lawmakers say the funding will be cut off in coming years. This prompted the push to create a locally funded aquifer protection district. If voters approve the idea, the district is expected to raise about $300,000 per year. Kootenai County commissioners would have the ultimate say how the money is spent.
The aquifer supplies drinking water to about 500,000 people in Kootenai and Spokane Counties. About two-thirds of the aquifer is in Idaho. A similar aquifer protection fee is already paid by residents in Spokane County.
Supporters say:
Without an aquifer protection district, when the state money ends there would be virtually no monitoring or regulation of hundreds of chemical and petroleum-using businesses that atop the aquifer.
Public health officials say they are barely able to keep up with inspecting existing businesses above the aquifer. They also point out that recent growth has only made their job tougher. Additional funds would allow for more frequent inspection, plus fund pollution-prevention educational programs.
They point to the recent fuel spills at the BNSF Railway depot as an example of why inspections are needed. Removing pollution from an aquifer is nearly impossible and very expensive, experts say.
Opponents say:
There is currently no organized opposition to the idea, but some say the aquifer protection district is just another term for a new property tax -- Idaho residents are already feeling anxious by their skyrocketing property values.
Although backers of the idea say they would charge $6 per year per home -- and possibly less, depending on the needs spelled out by public health experts -- the legislation potentially allows for up to $12 per home. A handful of environmentalists disagree with the district, saying it doesn't go far enough in protecting the aquifer and that it merely pays lip service to the growing threats posed to the region's sole source of drinking water.
Sponsor:
Frank Henderson and Bob Nonini, two Republican state representatives from Post Falls, sponsored the legislation behind the aquifer protection district.
