As a resident looking to use Lake Nighthorse as a future source of drinking water, I would ask planning bodies to consider the following: Body-contact recreation like swimming, bathing, water skiing, wind surfing and the use of personal watercraft should not be allowed on bodies of water used as sources of public water supply. Where it is allowed to occur, it should be separated from the water intake by the greatest distance possible, usually at least a mile.
This would be hard to do on a reservoir as small as Lake Nighthorse. Non-body-contact water-based recreation, particularly the use of two-stroke carbureted gasoline engines that discharge exhaust into the water, and the use of petroleum-powered vehicles and tools on the ice, should be discouraged. These guidelines were developed to prevent contamination of public drinking water with coliform bacteria, gasoline, fuel additives and oil.
The proponents of recreational use on or near Lake Nighthorse must be required to provide technical evidence supporting the claim that such activity will not adversely affect the water quality, or the public health of the water consumer served by this water supply. If their proposals for recreational use are inconsistent with this policy, they should be rejected.
Where recreational uses of a drinking water source are being considered, the public health risks should be communicated to drinking water consumers by the decision-makers, including plans for protection and enforcement designed to minimize the risk of contamination and degradation of water quality.
Lou Fontana
Durango
