Smith Valley controlled groundwater petition stalls

Efforts to create the first controlled groundwater area in Flathead County have stalled, at least temporarily, after state experts said the advocates haven't yet proven their case.

The proposal first surfaced last fall, when a group of homeowners petitioned the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to regulate new well construction in a 7,000-acre area centered on Batavia Lane and Kienas Road north of Smith Lake.

Given the complex geology in the area, groundwater availability can vary dramatically depending on well location. Some homeowners also have suggested that recent subdivision activity could have a negative effect on existing wells.

Creating a controlled groundwater district would address these concerns by requiring property owners to get a permit and prove that water was available before any new wells are drilled.

Opponents have suggested that this is an unnecessary and expensive procedure. They also say this is simply an attempt to block additional development in the area.

The Batavia-Kienas Homeowners Association, which submitted the controlled groundwater petition, filed a lawsuit in January seeking to overturn Flathead County's approval of four minor subdivisions located in the proposed district.

Kurt Hafferman, head of the DNRC's Water Resources Office in Kalispell, said in an interview last fall that there are legitimate concerns about long-term water availability in some parts of the Smith Valley.

"It's a complete crap-shoot out there," he said. "When you look at the well data, you see everything from high-yield to a lot of low-yield, long-recharge wells."

However, in a formal response to the groundwater petition, Hafferman and a state hydrogeologist concluded that the Batavia-Kienas group hasn't adequately demonstrated that groundwater withdrawals in the area exceed the aquifer's capacity to recharge, or that well water levels and water pressures are declining as a result of development.

"The department does not believe that sufficient data has been provided to support many of your alleged facts," Hafferman said in a Feb. 15 letter to the homeowners association. "Before beginning the process of preparing for a hearing to show why this petition should be granted, the department suggests that you reconsider."

The petitioners did provide some evidence to support their allegations that "excessive groundwater withdrawals are very likely to occur in the near future," Hafferman wrote, but that documentation only addressed about 156 of the control area's total 7,000 acres.

"For most of the 7,000 acres, we have no idea what's going on," he said in a recent interview. "I've heard the opponents' side of this, and they have a lot of evidence too, but nobody really knows. Nobody has done any kind of characterization."

To demonstrate that a controlled groundwater area is really needed, the state is recommending that the Batavia-Kienas group conduct a multiyear study to monitor well-water levels and to quantify the amount of recharge that takes place in the aquifer every year.

It's now up to the homeowners association to decide whether and how to move forward.

Shawna Floyd, who helped organize the association, said the group is still considering its options.

If they do decide to proceed, Hafferman said, the next step would be to hold a formal hearing and give opponents and proponents an opportunity to provide testimony.

Such a hearing could result in the petition being denied outright, he said. Alternatively, a permanent or temporary closure could be ordered.

The petitioners might have enough evidence to support a temporary closure, Hafferman said, but long-term monitoring and basin characterization would still be needed.

"It could take months or years before the department could get the necessary funding to study this area," he said in his letter. "That's why it's important that a petition [provide] factual data that support a decision to grant permanent closure."

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com