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City water staff outline wildfire resilience and firefighting water supplies; upgrades focus on storage, pumps and backup power
Summary
City staff briefed the committee on how Spokane's water system would perform in large wildfire or high-demand events, described storage and pump capacity, and outlined upgrades — new tanks, expanded boosters, and backup generators — intended to improve firefighting and domestic supply resilience.
City water staff presented an overview of system capacity and wildfire resilience, noting system design tradeoffs between daily operational storage and the deep-storage volumes needed for large-scale fire suppression.
The nut graf: staff said Spokane's system has multiple tanks and booster stations, redundant pressure zones and roughly 5 million gallons of storage online plus several new tanks brought into service in 2023–2024. Staff described recent and planned projects — well rehabilitations, new boosters and permanent backup generators — intended to preserve pressure and pumping if power is shut off during wildfire response.
Assistant presenter explained how reservoirs work: “Our day to day demands are mostly managed with that upper part of each of our tanks,” and that fire suppression draws from lower storage tiers designed for exceptional events. Staff reported 34 reservoirs online (with three nearing completion), more than 5,000,000 gallons of storage, eight well stations, 29 pumps with a nameplate capacity of about 210,000 gallons per minute and 34 booster stations. They also said the system is tested for operation with its largest pump out of service and can still deliver 175,000 gallons per minute in that scenario.
Speakers emphasized operational limits during catastrophic events. Staff noted the California fires consumed four times normal water use in affected systems and that even if water is available at a hydrant, access can be blocked by fire or abandoned vehicles. They urged public education about not running home sprinklers during evacuations because doing so can deplete tank reserves and reduce firefighting capability.
The presentation described fuel-mitigation and partners: the fire department has grant-funded fuels mitigation (targeting about 1,000 acres by end of 2025), and utilities such as Avista have programs to clear vegetation near power lines. Staff also explained steps to increase backup-power resiliency — trailer-mounted generators, added permanent generators and upgraded plug-in connections — prioritizing wildland-urban interface areas (Indian Trail, West Plains, 195 area).
Ending: No council action was taken; staff said they will continue coordination with fire, utilities and regional partners and return with updates as projects proceed.
