Water board shoots for $1 million project

The Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board made a million dollar decision Wednesday.

On Sept. 11, the board voted to approve submitting resolutions and applications for a grant and loan that will fund a project to reroute sewer lagoon discharge to the Upper North Platte River. The project could mean increases in fees for Saratoga residents, said PMPC engineer Gary Steele.

The project

Currently, the town of Saratoga routes all sewer lagoon discharge north of the facility in a cell called Hot Slough Creek.

Public Works Director Chuck Bartlett said the lagoons meet all requirements to discharge in the creek, except for ammonia requirements, because the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) changed Hot Slough Creek from a Class 4 water source to a Class 2. According to Wyoming DEQ water regulations, Class 4 water where aquatic life is not attainable. Class 2 is defined as surface water that supports fish or drinking water supplies.

“Originally this was classified as a Class 4 and we didn’t have a problem,” Bartlett said. “When (DEQ) came back, they found some fish … in the creek and they reclassified it as a Class 2. That’s when our ammonia levels for our discharge decreased dramatically.”

Bartlett said the solution is to reroute discharge from Hot Slough Creek directly into the North Platte River. Although the river is a Class 1 water source, the dilution factor is greater, meaning ammonia requirements will be easier to meet, Bartlett said.

“If we run a discharge line from our lagoons to the river, we can use the dilution factor in the river for meeting our ammonia requirements,” Bartlett said.

But the project could by costly.

Project cost

Steele estimated the entire project to reroute discharge directly to the river would cost a little over $1 million.

A project overview Steele presented to the board Sept. 11 showed the project would include three pump stations from the lagoon system directly to the river.

To cover the costs, Steele suggested the council apply for a 50 percent loan and 50 percent grant available through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DEQ.

If the town of Saratoga gets the grant and applies for the loan, along with projected operation and maintenance costs, user fees could increase to $5 to $7 per user per month, Steele said.

Time constraints

The town is working on a close deadline with the grant application, which must be in for consideration by Sept. 19, Steele said. The next round for the grant would not be available until 2014, if the town misses the Sept. 19 deadline.

The town of Saratoga has to be in compliance with Wyoming DEQ’s changed regulations regarding Hot Slough Creek two-and-a-half years after a permit is signed. Board member Richard Raymer said, to his understanding, the permit had not yet been signed, potentially giving the town more time to look at other options.

Steele said, if the town wanted a chance to get the grant this round, they would need to apply. Steele also said the grant is competitive.

Other options

The Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board members spent most of the Sept. 11 meeting exploring other options.

Raymer asked about using vegetation in Hot Slough Creek to help with the ammonia problem. Steele said the vegetation solution would not be suited for winter conditions.

Raymer also suggested other solutions, but all were considered unfeasible.

“We are talking about $1million here,” Raymer said. “It seems like there is a lot of work we can do to a diversion structure just to get the flows up to meet the ammonia requirements up there.”

After lengthy discussion, the board unanimously voted to approve the applications for submission.

If the town of Saratoga does not receive the grant this round, they can apply next year, Steele said