COEUR d'ALENE - Like baseball cards, only more practical.

The city of Coeur d'Alene is looking into swapping water rights with a Harrison-area subdivision, which would rather draw its liquid from Lake Coeur d'Alene than figure out a way to pump it from the aquifer.

Powderhorn Ranch approached Coeur d'Alene requesting the development trade its aquifer rights, near Rathdrum, for the Lake City's surface rights on the lake, near Harrison.

"At this point we're just dealing with the concept, and the concept of us trading ground rights for surface rights is good for us," said Jim Markley, Coeur d'Alene water superintendent. "We need to sit down and figure out exactly what the deal is."

Coeur d'Alene draws its water from the aquifer, upward of 30 million gallons per day at its peak. It's allowed 37 million gallons per day. The deal offers Powderhorn's rights for around 2 million gallons from the source, a little breathing room should the demand for water increase in the future.

The question is how much to give in return.

Markely said it would probably be a one for one trade. The city owns rights to around 12 million gallons of water per day from the lake, but doesn't have a plant to treat it to make it drinkable. Powderhorn would likely use the water as irrigation to free up its drinking supply.

The City Council must approve the step at 6 p.m. Tuesday before the sides can begin to negotiate.