Lewiston waiting for independent reservoir report

A third-party investigation to identify what caused one of Lewiston’s largest reservoirs to fail and unleash a 3 million gallon flood in the city’s Sunset Addition on Jan. 18 is not yet complete.

That update came Tuesday from the city’s risk manager, Gene Harrington, who said he doesn’t know when the investigation will be done.

It’s not clear if the city has the document. Harrington declined to answer if the city has the third-party investigation or not.

The city provided an internal report, but not the third-party investigation, to fill a July 25 Tribune records request for “any reports or documents pertaining to the cause of the failure of High Reservoir on Jan. 18, 2023.”

The internal review placed blame for the reservoir failure on a software problem that happened after work was completed by Control System Technology in Idaho Falls.

Three records were withheld by the city, citing part of Idaho civil procedure, which, among other things, bans the release of documents being prepared in anticipation of litigation. The city’s denial of the records request also referenced an Idaho code exempting disclosure of records when doing so is prohibited by state and federal regulations.

The city hasn’t filed any legal action and doesn’t face any litigation in connection with the reservoir failure other than 65 tort claims filed against the city requesting compensation for damage caused by the aftermath of the disaster, said Lewiston Mayor Dan Johnson on Tuesday in an email.

The deadline to file tort claims was July 17. Johnson declined to explain how the city is handling the 65 tort claims it has received.

About $3 million in relief is being sought in the 65 claims by homeowners, businesses, governmental entities, customers of 16th Avenue Mini Storage and Twin County United Way, according to copies of the tort claims obtained by the Tribune through a records request.

That figure doesn’t include claims from parties such as Lewiston Independent School District No. 1 and the Idaho Military Division that list the amount of the claim as to be determined.

Irrigation restrictions imposed when the city’s water supply was limited while High Reservoir was offline for repairs hurt the school district, according to its claim.

“We have property damage to grass, shrubs, trees, flowers, and landscape,” according to the school district tort claim. “We will not know the amount of damage until water is restored and damage is repaired.”

The Idaho National Guard on the 2700 block of 16th Avenue just downhill from the reservoir suffered damage to property, water, interior walls, floors, fences and paving, along with exterior erosion and debris, according to its tort claim.

The problems the reservoir created are varied and ongoing in an area that generally extends from just below the reservoir at 16th Avenue and 29th Street all the way to the Clearwater River in east Lewiston, according to the claims.

A Jack In the Box employee is seeking $160 in lost wages because the restaurant was temporarily closed.

Another restaurant is seeking $36,000 after temporarily suspending operations because of the high risk to public and staff safety of serving diners when an order to boil all drinking water was in place for about a week following the rupture.

The compensation would be for loss of sales, employee wages, food and wine, according to the restaurant’s claim.

A number of homeowners experienced extensive damage to their residences and yards, according to the claims.

Some individuals detailed the emotional struggles the reservoir failure created in their lives.

“I would just like to get it over with even though I still have a lot of stuff to go through and a lot to clean and try to save that I could be claiming!” according to one claim. “This has (taken) a lot out of me and (I) would be relieved to move forward.”

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.