Twin Lakes recharge effort may get funding

By John Hanron
Methow Valley News

6/19/03

...enclosing the nearby Wolf Creek irrigation ditch in a pipe, to meet endangered species regulations, has decreased the amount of water that seeps into the earth to recharge the aquifer.

The Twin Lakes Aquifer Coalition has received word that it is line for state funding to the tune of $750,000 to address problems with the water levels in Twin Lakes and Barnsley Lake.

The coalition, which formed last year in response to lowering aquifer levels in the Twin Lakes basin, has been investigating various options to address the low levels, which it says negatively affect domestic water supplies, wildlife habitat and the lakes’ trout fisheries.

Dick Ewing, chair of the coalition, said the group will be applying to the Department of Ecology for a new water right, which would allow them to pump 2,000 acre-feet of water–up to 4,500 gallons per minute–from a well near the Methow River up into Big Twin Lake during high river levels.

The money will also allow the group to complete a study that looks at other ways to re-water the lakes.

Big Twin Lake is about 13 feet below the "customary high water mark," according to Ewing. The aquifer coalition maintains that enclosing the nearby Wolf Creek irrigation ditch in a pipe, to meet endangered species regulations, has decreased the amount of water that seeps into the earth to recharge the aquifer.

The appropriation is waiting approval of the governor.