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Residents press Spokane County on West Plains flooding, aquifer protection and PFAS in workshop
Summary
At a Spokane County placemaking workshop, residents and neighborhood representatives urged planners to map and protect local aquifers, address PFAS contamination in private wells, and account for a West Plains high‑risk drainage area in future land‑use decisions.
Residents raised sustained concerns about groundwater contamination, private‑well PFAS impacts and subsurface flooding at a Spokane County placemaking workshop, pressing county planners to recognize discrete aquifer systems and include groundwater protections in the comprehensive plan.
Several attendees described long‑running local problems that they said must be reflected in the county’s planning maps and policies. Julie McHugh, identified as a Palisades neighborhood resident, told the workshop that “we've known about PFAS contamination since 2017,” and urged formal acknowledgement of a distinct shallow aquifer system that she said supplies thousands of private wells. Derek Warren, who described repeated flooding at his home, told staff his property floods “since the day it was built” and questioned why relevant drainage maps have not been available.
Why it matters: Attendees said development approvals, urban growth area boundaries and infrastructure investments have been made without visible accounting for subsurface conditions, leading residents to call for clearer mapping of high‑risk drainage areas, stronger wellhead protection policies and regional stormwater treatment. John Hancock, identified as representing the West Plains Water Coalition, said the coalition represents roughly 300 neighbors and centered its comments on preserving water and place as growth continues.
Multiple residents pointed to a “high‑risk drainage area” for the West Plains that they said originates in past technical studies and is not displayed clearly in county materials. One attendee referenced an earlier 2003 URS study and a 2005 Hangman Management Plan as prior technical work that, residents said, shows groundwater and spring connections to the Spokane River. Several speakers also told planners they have observed basement flooding and groundwater upwelling in summer months tied to subsurface conditions rather than surface runoff.
County staff acknowledged the concerns and asked residents to submit written comments and map annotations for staff to incorporate. Scott Chesney, the county planning director, said staff are aware of environmental and stormwater issues and that these topics will be folded into the plan’s goals and policies; in response to requests for maps, staff replied they “will be looking into that.” The consultant team advised residents that climate and resiliency analysis will use climate projections, hydrology data and public input to inform policy recommendations.
Attendees also criticized past spending and implementation. One resident said a planned regional stormwater treatment site and related investments identified in earlier planning had not materialized, and urged staff to account for that in future capital‑facilities planning. The workshop closed with county staff promising to compile the table maps and comments and present a public summary to the planning commission and the Board of County Commissioners for future action.
