Moses Lake staff say water supply is strained as UGA developers seek service letters and annexation

City staff and outside consultants told Moses Lake City Council on Monday that the city’s water supply and long-term water-rights picture will limit growth unless the city and developers coordinate financing and timing.

Richard Law, a city presenter, opened the study-session briefing by saying, “So, water system, that’s always the, the pink elephant in the room,” and walked council through a water-system plan update submitted to the state Department of Health in late 2024. The plan projects capital needs that include PFAS treatment at well 29, a new storage tank in the Moses Point zone and distribution upgrades. The capital-improvement program in the plan totals roughly $38,000,000 through 2030.

Why it matters: City officials said the limiting factor for growth through the 2030s is the source (the aquifer and wells). Staff and consultants said several zones were being pumped at or above the Department of Health’s recommended 20 hours a day during summer peaks; in Knowles Vista and Larson zones some wells were operated continuously in the peak weeks reported.

Key details from the presentation: - The city reported roughly 13,000 customer connections in 2023 and an ERU (equivalent residential unit) count above 14,000. The plan uses conservative consumption assumptions while citing improvements from 2023–24 conservation efforts. - Several wells show declining static water levels year-over-year; well 33 in Knowles Vista has declines approaching 20 feet per year and well 29 (the PFAS well) shows only minor decline but requires treatment. That decline reduces sustainable source capacity over time. - With the capital improvements the plan models, the city’s limiting factor shifts from source capacity to water rights sometime after the early 2040s. - City staff emphasized storage shortfalls in some zones and the need to decide whether developers should share in financing new tanks, mains and treatment.

Developers asked for one-time letters

Developer representatives said the projects they are pursuing in the urban growth area (UGA) cannot move through SEPA and platting without a city “availability” determination and a path to an extraterritorial utility agreement (ETA) or annexation.

Dave Dormeyer, a consultant representing several projects, told council those requests are required by city policy and asked the council to authorize water-availability letters so the county can complete SEPA scoping. Dormeyer said Moses Point and other UGA projects plan to use irrigation water from the Moses Lake Reclamation District (MLRD) for landscape irrigation, limiting city potable demand for outdoor use: “All these developments in the UGA... are developed into saving water,” he said, describing an estimated annual potable-water savings from irrigation reuse.

Council reaction and next steps

Council members said they want a rapid but rigorous path forward. Council and staff agreed to schedule follow-up meetings that include city engineering staff, the city’s water-system report authors, and the developers’ engineers to resolve assumptions (ERU definitions, peak-factor methodology, pump curves and tank sizing). Council also asked staff to return with a clearer picture of financing options for the planned capital projects (e.g., bonding, developer participation, grants) and asked for the water-system plan materials that are currently under Department of Health review.

At the meeting’s close the council directed staff to set a working session for city staff, council representatives and the applicants to review pump and storage modeling and to begin drafting extraterritorial agreements or annexation terms; council members requested the city’s most recent water-system tables and pump-run data be made available to the applicants’ engineers.

Ending

Council members said they want to balance facilitating housing growth with protecting service reliability for existing customers; staff committed to convening technical meetings and returning with clearer, documented choices on annexation, ETAs and developer participation.