Wenatchee City Council OK’s Exploratory Water Drilling in Malaga

Regional Water has been continuing it's search for a second source of drinking water.

The district is a partnership between the City of Wenatchee, the East Wenatchee Water District and the Chelan PUD that provides drinking water to the region.

Wenatchee Mayor Frank Kuntz said the City Council voted Thursday to allow him to sign an interlocal agreement with Chelan County for exploratory drilling in the Malaga area.

"Geologists and those sort of folks think that the best place for us to find additional water sources is out in the Malaga area." explained Kuntz, "We've drilled a couple of different times and haven't been successful. The next spot we're looking at is some land that's owned by Chelan County. We use some of that and some of it's just bare dirt so we're going to drill a couple of test holes out there and see if we can find water."

The region is expected to need that second source within the next 40 years. Regional Water currently gets its drinking water from an aquifer near the Rocky Reach dam on the Douglas County side.

"Eventually the plan would be to find a second source and then pump it up and connect it into our current source." Kuntz added, "We've got plenty of water rights, we just need to find a good source where we can keep drinking water for everybody. Again, it's a long term plan but we're always thinking twenty or thirty years ahead. We're trying to find the right source of water and hopefully we hit something."

After previous attempts in 2017 and 2018, this is most likely the last attempt at finding water in the area. It could cost around $50 million to connect a well in Malaga to the current system.

Kuntz said that he thinks the drilling will take place in a couple of months or by winter at the latest.