The Whitefish City Council voted unanimously to adopt the 2026 Water Master Plan and the Wastewater and Stormwater Master Plan. 

The plans serve as a guide for the city to manage the water systems over the next 20 years.  

Water supply, distribution, storage infrastructure, and a forecast of future needs are included in the plan, along with a set of improvements to ensure safe, reliable and sustainable water service. 

Whitefish Public Works Director Craig Workman outlined the four major recommendations in the water supply and treatment part of the plan: increase usage of Whitefish Lake water, investigate other water supply sources including groundwater, reduce water usage through conservation, and the installation of an actuated valve to manage consumption from Haskill Creek. 

Completion of the south Whitefish water capacity project is one of the recommendations in the water storage section, and Workman said it is "well underway with the construction of the new million-dollar tank and the water main at 18th Street." 

Other recommendations are the investigation of potential leakage from the reservoir at the water plant and of valve closures throughout transmission mains, as well as improvements to various tanks to allow for remote monitoring. 

John Phelps with the Haskil Basin Watershed Council said his group supports the remote radio telemetry system. Phelps addressed the Council at a work session to discuss the method of controlling the amount of water taken from Second and Third creeks. 

At that time, the Council chose to further analyze the telemetry system and put $50,000 into the budget for the study. 

Workman clarified that the remote telemetry project mentioned in several public comments would be at the intakes at Second and Third creeks and the actuated valve staff is recommending would be at the hydro plant. 

Samantha Tappenbeck with the Flathead Conservation District and Mike Koopal, executive director of the Whitefish Lake Institute, also spoke about the need for telemetry and for a third water source. 

"This is a really good engineering report," Koopal said of the water master plan. "The problem is, this is an engineering report, whereas this is a joint engineering and natural resource management scenario." 

Alan Wendt, AE2S design engineer for the plan, said although the plan is meant to guide management for 20 years, the elements of the plan are not "set in stone for 20 years" and that it is a living document, typically updated by municipalities every five years. 

"I think people need to understand the cost of using less Haskill Creek water," he said. 

He said costs include losing revenue from the hydro plant, the expense of pumping lake water to the plant, and the less pristine lake water requires more treatment, more  chemicals and more backwash. 

Another issue brought up by the Haskil Basin Watershed Council is that the city is dewatering Second and Third creeks.  

"I will say that over the past several years, we have allowed water to overflow at Second and Third creek," Workman said. "Even though you go up there and you look at those creeks and they may look dry, that water is going underground somewhere after the diversions. We're not taking 100% of the water from Second and Third creeks." 

The wastewater and stormwater master plan serves as a strategic roadmap to maintain resilient infrastructure, address current and future needs, and support sustainable development, Workman writes. 

Reporter Julie Engler can be reached at 406-862-3505 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.