A few weeks ago I invited Glenn D. Thackray, an Idaho State University professor, to our Portneuf Rotary Club to do a presentation on where we get our drinking water and the quality of the water. He’s been doing a study on this for a number of years. He gave a very compelling presentation. While our water meets or exceeds the federal standards, it is a fairly fragile system.

Tonight he was presenting at the Pocatello City Council chambers. Nina and I went over and he gave us an excellent overview with some newer information. A pretty good crowd were in attendance.

A couple of people were there with definite agendas. On fellow challenged Dr. Thackray several times even though there was nothing to challenge. Towards the end, the crowd was pretty unhappy with him and wanted him to be quiet so the presentation could be completed.

Dr. Thackray’s presentation simply showed what the data says about our very unique aquifer about 30 feet underneath the city’s streets. There are a number of threats to our drinking water supply, including that we’re pulling about 7.8 billion gallons a year out of the aquifer and only about 7.1 billion gallons, on average, is going into the system. While the water meets and generally exceeds Federal standards as set by the EPA, a couple of the measurements are creeping uncomfortably close to the limits.

However, this fellow was sure that we are not taking more out than is being replenished from the snowpack in the mountains and that any contamination is in the past and our water is better than ever. Unfortunately, he’s pretty much wrong. Why do people with no data feel it so important to challenge at every front someone who does have the peer-reviewed data, the analysis, and the floor? I’m sure we were there a half-hour longer than necessary.

It was good to hear the information again. Problem prevention is certainly much cheaper than problem correction.

TTFN!