County staff recommend renewing Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer protection area; timeline targets August ballot

Spokane County staff presented an update on renewing the Spokane Valley‑Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer Protection Area (APA) on March 10 and recommended placing a renewal measure on the August 2025 ballot to continue funding monitoring, planning, education and water‑related projects.

Amy (Water Resources) told commissioners the APA was first established in 1985 under state law (noted in the briefing as “RCW 36 36”) and last renewed in 2004. County staff said state law prevents including a city or town in an APA without that jurisdiction’s approval. Staff recommended a renewal of the existing APA footprint with an option for municipalities to join; staff said Liberty Lake has already passed a resolution to join and Millwood and the City of Spokane have expressed interest at the staff level.

County staff described allowable expenditures under the APA statute—planning, stormwater, sanitary sewer, drinking water, monitoring, enforcement and education—and said the county has historically used its share for monitoring, planning, sanitary projects and education. Staff shared a pie chart of 2023 APA spending that showed staffing and administration as the major outlays, with monitoring and education smaller shares.

Staff estimated the City of Spokane’s current parcel assessment yields roughly $1.8 million annually under the existing fee; the county asked commissioners to note the APA fee has not changed in about 40 years and to consider that the county’s internal administration costs and new program elements (for example, the Doris Morris Learning Center education program) changed recent spending patterns. Staff said the county is reassessing monitoring parameters and plans to remove some tests that have shown no detections for decades to reduce monitoring cost.

Staff proposed an August ballot to avoid overlapping a November parks and schools measure and noted ballot language and legal drafting deadlines (materials to elections by May 2 for an August measure). Commissioners discussed whether to include the West Plains or other areas in a separate APA and asked staff to model the revenue and program implications if expanded; staff said adding the West Plains likely would fund at minimum a monitoring program and that additional negotiations and interlocal language would be needed.

No final board action was taken on March 10. Commissioners asked staff to present a detailed timeline and to brief municipal councils; staff said they planned presentations to the City of Spokane committee schedule and would return with proposed resolutions and draft language.