Lake Roosevelt Administrative History

Domestic Water Supply

The domestic water supply for LARO relies on wells and springs. Year-round wells have always been a challenge. The annual winter drawdowns make some wells and pumps unusable since the groundwater levels near the lake are within a few feet of lake level and fluctuate as the lake does. Through agreements with Reclamation and the Washington Department of Health, LARO installed a series of small water systems at its developed sites in the 1950s. Because they used seepage water from Lake Roosevelt, they did not function during the winter. Some wells eventually failed completely. [37]

Laying water pipes at Fort Spokane, 1963. Photo courtesy of National Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (LARO.HQ.MENG).

LARO maintenance worker Don Everts remembers that he and his co-workers "got a little fascinated with drilling for water" in the 1950s. At Fort Spokane, for example, U.S. Geological Survey geologist Fred Jones used a drill rig to dig a well that did not produce any water, and the Geological Survey was not willing to try again without reimbursement. Superintendent Hugh Peyton then turned the job over to Everts, who read all he could find on drilling wells. Everts decided to "blow" the well drilled by the Geological Survey using dry ice brought in from Spokane. They lined the well with rubber and dropped cakes of dry ice down the hole. They were standing on top when the water reached the top and literally blew them off — the water shot fifty feet into the air. After dropping more ice down the well and watching the water blow out a number of times, they pumped the water out of the hole and dropped a pump in it. They never pumped it dry after that. Water for several restrooms and all the campground water came out of that "dry well." [38]

By the late 1960s, twenty-two of LARO's thirty-five developed campgrounds and picnic areas had water supplies, some adequate and some inadequate. LARO continued to experience problems with wells that went dry during low reservoir levels. In 1969, LARO asked the U.S. Geological Survey to help investigate the availability of additional water supplies at all campgrounds and picnic areas. It was found that groundwater, preferred over surface water because it did not require treatment, could be obtained at most of LARO's campgrounds. The chemical quality of the groundwater was found to be good, although hard and in some places high in iron. [39]

Sampling of LARO's drinking water at campgrounds in the 1960s and 1970s found that some water supplies occasionally had high coliform levels. Treatment consisted of the installation of chlorinators and iodinators. Generally, the lower end of the lake maintained acceptable coliform levels. Two of LARO's sixteen water systems that used wells (Kettle Falls campground used city water) were closed in 1975, and the Park Service began sampling all water systems twice a month when they were in use. In 1976, new drinking water standards became effective with the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act. District rangers were required to sample drinking water systems on a regular basis. [40]

As regulations on drinking water tightened, the time spent by LARO personnel monitoring water supplies also increased. In 1979, LARO expended 283 person-hours, 7,206 vehicle miles, and 12 boat hours on water sampling and monitoring. Even so, in 1980 eight out of seventeen quality failures in the region occurred at LARO. Two wells were closed until disinfection equipment could be installed, and LARO planned improvements at several water supply systems to comply with national standards. As a result, six new wells, two pumping units, and fifteen iodinators and chlorinators were installed. By 1997, all twenty of LARO's wells had treatment systems, and they all had satisfactory microbiological quality. [41]

The largest spring within LARO is the historic spring at Fort Spokane, first used by the military and now by the Park Service. In 1994, the Park Service filed a formal protest with the Washington Department of Ecology against a planned large withdrawal of water for a nearby proposed recreational vehicle park because it was believed to threaten the spring. The permit is currently on hold until a state moratorium for new water rights on the Columbia River is lifted. [42]