The city of Airway Heights is still awaiting funding for a new, clean source of drinking water. To preserve the supply of water it has, the city council extended zoning restrictions until early next year.
Monday night the Airway Heights City Council unanimously adopted a resolution that continues a new zoning requirement until February of next year. The resolution requires that developers prove their projects will not negatively affect the amount of water available for others in the city before they can build.
City Manager Albert Tripp said the city council still has another vote on this issue scheduled for later this month, but the restriction on water usage will be in effect until next February.
Airway Heights water has been piped in from the city of Spokane since 2017, when the city discovered its groundwater well had been contaminated by firefighting chemicals from nearby Fairchild Air Force Base. The city is working to fund and build a new water source, and has also sued the Air Force.
In the interim, the Airway Heights city leaders are planning to ask the city of Spokane to increase their allotment of water.
