59Frazier Mountain Park Community Center

Maybe we’re all asking the same questions.

Where does our water come from? How much of it is there? Is there enough to share? Why did Lake of the Woods go dry? Why should Frazier Park even think about joining with Lake of the Woods?

Why should Frazier Park go to the trouble to help its neighbor? What’s in it for us?

Who wins? Who loses? Is it a zero sum game?

Will Frazier Park run out of water if it joins in a regional system? How much will it cost? Who will pay for it? What if we don’t have enough money? How can we know this is a good idea?

These are some of the questions we’ve probably all been asking ourselves and hearing from our friends and neighbors about the regional water system idea.

The good news is that there has been a hard-working committee of people and consultants who have been working to get the answers to these questions.

Smile. This is your tax money at work—coming back to help you get these facts. The state gave the Mountain Communities a grant to get the facts. So come collect!

You paid for it. Now let’s get together and talk about what it all means. Come see the Facts. Facts are free…but very, very valuable.

What does the aquifer look like? Why did Lake of the Woods’ part of the
aquifer go dry?

Why didn’t the section under Frazier Park’s water district go dry?
Why is there still a high water table in Lebec?

Civil Engineer Dee Jaspar will be there to go over the facts. Didn’t catch it the first time? We didn’t completely either… But the second time is the charm.

What is the West SubBasin? What is the MId SubBasin? How much water is stored in the aquifer? How does that compare with the amount that people in Frazier Park, Lake of the Woods and the surrounding areas use? Will there be enough in a multi-year drought? What do we know?

Jaspar will go over the use and storage numbers again. We have gone back over the numbers. You want to hear these in person, one more time.

Okay, well what about the money? Will Frazier Park be paying for repairs and meters over at Lake of the Woods? How is this going to work? Are we going to be asked to write a blank check?

Consultant Dave Warner will be there to tell us about the financing, and why there is a strategy for planning where the money is coming from.

Is it really true that repairing and upgrading Frazier Park’s water system will be more affordable if we are partners with Lake of the Woods? Why? How does that work?

That strategy has already brought millions of dollars to the mountain during this drought.

So then, what are the next steps?

See you Thursday, 7 p.m. (February 18) at the Frazier Mountain Park Community Center

Photo captions:

Jim Kane of Frazier Park has the same questions.

Dee Jaspar explains the aquifer beneath this region and what it holds.

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This is part of the February 12, 2016 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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