Mosier will receive $1.4 million in funding from U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to help improve its municipal water system.  Rural Development State Director John Huffman made the announcement Thursday.  With the help of a $763,000 loan and a $659,418 grant from USDA’s Water and Waste Disposal Program, Mosier will drill a new well to serve as a backup water source.  The town will also install a new telemetry system to improve system efficiency and build a new pump station to provide backup power and redundant pumps, expanding the system’s capacity.  Mosier currently depends upon a single well to provide water to the town, but that infrastructure does not have the capacity to meet increasing demand and lacks a backup water supply and systems.

Permitting is nearly complete to allow White Salmon’s Aquifer Storage and Recovery Program to begin.  City officials are hoping for water quality permits from the Washington Department of Ecology to be issued in time for operations to start in the first quarter of 2019.  Under the program, water not needed to meet City demands in the winter would be diverted from Buck Creek, treated, and conveyed into one of the City’s wells where the water would be injected into the aquifer for storage and then used during high demand periods.  Mayor David Poucher says that will give them 25 percent of their water during peak usage times.  Poucher noted the City has been working on this project for nearly ten years.  

North Wasco Parks and Recreation District’s master plan continues to take shape.  District executive director Scott Baker says they are a little over halfway through the process, and most of it has been reaching out to the public to learn what they wanted to see in the 20-year plan.  Potential improvements for all of the district’s parks are included in the plans, along with trail development and future programming.  Baker says they are working on wrapping up the plans, but they are still taking input.  Information is available online at nwprd.org.

The Port of Hood River Commission got a sneak preview of a draft report on an infrastructure framework plan for Lot 1 on the Waterfront.  The presentation will be made during the Hood River Urban Renewal Agency meeting this Monday.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says the report lays out both necessary infrastructure to get the property along the Nichols Basin ready for development and optional enhancements.  The work needed for development is estimated to cost $7.5 million, and the optionals $4 million.  The enhancements would include riparian work, better access to the water, docks, a plaza, and restrooms, focused on the recreational portion of the site.

Girls Basketball Hillsboro 60, The Dalles 51:  The Riverhawks came back after trailing by 19 after three quarters…but could not get closer than five points.  Kilee Hoylman led The Dalles with 21 points.

There will be a one-hour full closure of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge early Friday morning beginning at 4:00 a.m. for lift span electrical and mechanical systems testing.  The work is expected to conclude by 5:00 a.m. with traffic flow returning to normal shortly thereafter, but motorists should expect some delay depending on traffic volume.

Hood River’s annual holiday parade is Friday night in the downtown area.  Ashley May of the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce says the event had grown dramatically in the last five years, quadrupling in size.  An estimated 3,500 people attended last year.  The parade begins at 6 p.m., starting at 7th and Oak moving down to 1st Street.  The lighting of the tree at Overlook Memorial Park and caroling begins at 7 p.m.

Wasco County Commissioners reached consensus to join work with the City of The Dalles and Columbia Gorge Community College to discuss an intergovernmental agreement to use three-point-five million dollars of enterprise zone money from the Google projects to help fund construction of a skills center and on-campus housing at the College.  The College has a seven-point-three million dollar grant from the state for the project, and has committed three-point-eight million dollars toward the required match, that needs to be ironed out soon.  Dan Spatz of CGCC says talks on the IGA will take place next week.  Commissioners indicated they wanted to see the enterprise zone funds used to pay off bonds that would be purchased during the next state bond sale as quickly as possible.  County Administrator Tyler Stone pointed out the main push now is to secure the state funds, which creates time to iron out the details.

Wasco County Commissioners made no decisions on whether to have the County take over responsibility for the building codes program.  State officials have indicated they want the County to do it, and will not guarantee a local office if it is turned over to them.  County Commissioner Scott Hege says they need the state to provide direction on how the nearly four million dollars left in reserves from the defunct Mid-Columbia Council of Governments building codes program should be divided between all the counties that took part.  The Commission will discuss the topic again at its December 19 meeting.

Columbia Gorge CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, is conducting a holiday gift drive for foster youth.  CASA Executive Director Susan Erickson says a gift for a child in foster care can mean a great deal.  The drive continues through December 15.  Unwrapped gifts can be dropped off at Avenue Properties on 406 East 2nd in The Dalles and 116 3rd Street #209 in Hood River.