District working on weather system addition to airport

An addition to the local airport that would make it safer and more usable is on the horizon and may land if a major grant comes through to pay for it.

A new Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at the Grand Coulee Dam Airport would offer various aviation advantages, specifically by increasing safety and ease of landing.

The estimated $274,000 AWOS project should be paid for in part with a 90% Federal Aviation Administration grant, and a 5% Washington Department of Transportation Aviation grant for which Grant County Port District #7 commissioners are applying.

The FAA grant would compensate the local district retroactively for costs spent prior to being awarded the grant for the project, such as costs associated with the design and bid process, while the WSDOT grant will only apply to costs spent after July 1. 

The AWOS was discussed at the Jan. 28 port district commissioner meeting.

Trey Dail from TIO Engineers explained during the meeting that with all the FAA documents turned in by April, the award should come in around late June or early July.

He later told The Star that getting the grant is not certain but very likely. The FAA, in working with the airport, is aware of the airport's plan to add an AWOS, with it being a top priority in the port district's Capital Improvement Plan.

"We're optimistic, but until you gain all the clearances, it's not a given yet," District Chairman Jim Keene told The Star, adding that getting all the clearances for an AWOS "is pretty complex."

"When you're dealing with the FAA, it's a complex process," he said. "Don't be surprised that it takes time and a lot of steps."

Airport Manager Bob Babler, a pilot himself, explained to The Star some of the advantages to having an AWOS at the airport.

Babler said the AWOS will provide pilots with weather information such as visibility, clouds, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, precipitation, and lightning storms.

In addition to providing current weather information, the AWOS will provide forecasts.

Pilots currently can get weather information from Wilbur, Moses Lake, Ephrata, Spokane, Omak and other nearby cities, but not from the Grand Coulee Dam area specifically.

Babler noted that the AWOS will also be helpful for medical aircraft pilots, who can use its weather information for landing helicopters at Coulee Medical Center.

The AWOS will also be a step towards the airport being able to use a GPS instrument approach for aircraft. That could happen in about four years.

An instrument approach would allow aircraft to land at the airport even in adverse weather. Currently, using a visual approach, aircraft are sometimes unable to land on a cloudy or foggy day.

Being able to use an instrument approach at the airport would allow for more medical aircraft, Bureau of Reclamation aircraft, and more activity at the airport in general.

The AWOS addition should be completed sometime in 2022, Keene said. "It will really make it a safer and more accessible airport," he said.