At its regularly scheduled meeting Feb. 20 at the water district headquarters building, the White River Water Management District had a full agenda occupying two hours of sometimes technical, sometimes personal matters.
In open forum, one citizen complained about perceived unfair treatment during a recent White River Lake speeding stop involving her 19-year-old son and several passengers. The matter was referred to the office of the justice of the peace.
In agenda items, the board voted after some discussion to table a decision on terms of a new contract for water sales to the City of Spur. The current agreement lapsed in May, manager Shane Jones said, but board members advised that in light of greatly decreased water usage by commercial customer Mortenson Construction (which had prompted the original 2022 multi-agency agreement) a consultation with the City of Spur would be advisable first. A motion to table passed unanimously.
Jones also announced that the longanticipated Rio Blanco ATV trails would soon be ready to open to the public, once fencing has been installed. A total of 19 miles of trail have been developed from what was originally planned as 5 miles, at a cost of $397,000. WRMD has paid in about $300K so far, said Jones. The trails will be marked, and will be served by three informational kiosks.
Jones hopes to open the trails by the beginning of summer.
In other business, the board received the WR police department’s annual Racial Profiling report and regular monthly report; heard an update from a technology company looking to extract mineral resources from lake sediments and return potable water to the system; received a briefing on improvements to a pump station, with bids on the project to open soon; received a briefing on park signage that is almost completed; considered drafting an investment policy for the district; and heard the manager’s report.
Jones reported that the reservoir is at 23.5 % full, with water level 27 feet below the spillway. The staff have spent “countless hours” repairing water leaks last month, he said.
