FAIRBANKS -- With the flow of dollars from Juneau drying up, the free public watering hole in Fox, a state-funded Fairbanks tradition, may soon be run by a private entity.
Known locally as the "Fox spring," because the water poured out of the ground on its own for many decades, it has been a shallow well with an electric pump since the 1980s. Located about 12 miles north of Fairbanks near the intersection of the Elliott and Steese highways, the well equipment and grounds have been reworked numerous times over the past quarter-century. When the water last stopped in 2013, the state Department of Transportation spent $80,000 to get the 29-foot well flowing again.
The water level has dropped by about 25 feet since the 1980s and it may go dry this summer or fail at any time, a department analysis found. A new well, at least 50 feet deep, would be needed to meet environmental standards and "there is no confidence that a deeper well will provide the same quality water. Other local wells have a completely different and less appealing water quality," the document said.
For generations, hundreds of families -- including many who have plumbing -- have made weekly visits to the well to collect drinking water, believing that the taste is superior to what comes out of the faucet. On any day, there are dozens who make the pilgrimage to fill 5-gallon plastic jugs, buckets and water bottles. The change from a natural spring to a well did little to diminish its status.
In 1976, Sam O. White, the famous bush pilot, expressed the prevailing Fairbanks attitude about the spring, saying he had been drinking its water for more than 50 years and "it is far purer than any tap water you can come up with."
In the years that the well has been in operation, there have regularly been questions about how the state can fund it when there is no money to pay for it. Dave Miller, now the northern region head of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, is the latest person in that position to ask, "Why are we in the water business?"
The answer to that is history, he said. He believes it is time to put the Fox property up for sale and let the private sector take it over. The reason, he said, is that the department needs to conserve the general fund dollars appropriated by the Legislature to focus on its primary mission -- clearing ice and snow from roadways in the winter.
The well costs about $50,000 a year to maintain and the state has started a process that could lead to the sale of the well or its closure if no buyer can be found. There is no money in the budget to fix the well or drill a deeper one.
"We've looked at every service that we do and said, 'Do we continue to do this or not?' " Miller said Tuesday, speaking to an energy discussion group led by the Fairbanks Economic Development Corp.
He said that state general funds, not federal highway appropriations, are used to maintain and keep the Fox well going. At a time when winter snow plowing is to be cut back because of a two-thirds reduction in overtime, something has to be cut, he said. He puts the Fox well in that category, along with outhouse maintenance.
Instead of keeping road crews working overtime on two 12-hour shifts during snowstorms, he said, the state is going to have to limit operations to two seven-and-a-half-hour shifts, which means the roads won't be cleared as quickly and the plows will be parked during critical hours.
"It's hard for our guys. Those guys, when there's snow, they want to get out there and get after it," he said. "But that's the budget reality."
The latest rebuilding job at the Fox well a couple of years ago amounted to clearing a hole below the well casing to get the water moving. He said it's not going to last.
"It is going to fail, sooner or later. So it's time for us to get out of the water business and let a private entity come in there and take over the Fox spring," he said.
Past attempts by the state to get out of the water business in Fox met with strong opposition that led to complaints to legislators and various governors, resulting in executive decisions to stay in the water business.
State officials say they plan to seek public comment before acting and intend to see if any public agencies want to take over the property at no cost.
After that, the adjoining property owners will be given a chance to buy it and if they don't, it would be placed up for sale. If the property does not sell, the state would close it.