Hearing expected on Smith Valley plan

A public hearing could be held as early as this summer on a proposal to create a controlled groundwater area north of Smith Lake.

If approved, property owners within the control area would have to get permission from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation before they could drill a new water well.

They also would have to do a pump test before using the new well, to make sure there were no adverse effects on neighboring water users.

Two dozen Smith Valley homeowners petitioned the state to create the groundwater control area, which would cover about 7,000 acres on the north side of U.S. 2, between Northhill

Road and Vonderheide Lane. The action was prompted by recent subdivision development activity in the area.

Although the decision whether to grant the petition or not rests with the state agency, the Flathead County commissioners received an update about the request on Tuesday.

"It looks like this could hit public notice in the next two weeks, with a hearing sometime this summer," said Kurt Hafferman, head of the DNRC's Water Resources Office in Kalispell.

Anyone who owns property within the proposed control area should be notified about the hearing by letter. A state official will conduct the hearing.

Earlier this year, Hafferman and a state hydrologist told the petitioners that they haven'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.

"We didn't feel there was enough information in the petition to support" the creation of a controlled groundwater area, Hafferman said on Tuesday.

Commissioner Bob Watne - who owns property near the proposed control area and who is related to one of the people involved in the subdivision activity that prompted the groundwater petition - asked Hafferman if he was aware that there's "an underground river" flowing through the proposed district.

"You can get a dry well almost anywhere in the valley," Watne said. "I don't think this warrants a controlled groundwater area."

Hafferman said there have been water availability problems in the Smith Valley. However, the area hasn't been studied in detail. Consequently, he was concerned that the state might approve the petition and later "look like idiots" if someone comes along and does a study showing plenty of water.

Besides updating the commissioners on the petition status, Hafferman also encouraged a cooperative approach towards growth planning.

"We can't locate growth somewhere and then tell them to go find water," he said. "We have to put growth where the water is."

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