Study may look for cause of Carlile water issues

The ball is now rolling on a water study that will investigate whether or not it is feasible to form a water district on the west side of Crook County with the ultimate goal of hooking on to Gillette’s Madison water system.

The county commissioners applied for the study in September, hoping to discover how many residents in and around the Carlile area could feasibly be served by the Madison water system infrastructure. The study was prompted by a suggestion from Harry Labonde, Director of Wyoming Water Development, as part of the push to help landowners in the area whose wells had suddenly run dry or acidic a year before.

Though Senator Ogden Driskill was able to broker a deal with the City of Gillette in December that would allow landowners to hook onto the system, the county’s application for a water study remained active. The Omnibus Water Bill signed by Governor Mark Gordon last week included $370,000 for the Crook County Rural Water Supply Plan.

“They still don’t know really what happened there,” said Commissioner Jeanne Whalen on Tuesday, explaining to her fellow commissioners that the study may attempt to answer the question of what caused the wells to turn bad, which could be why the money awarded has been increased from the $250,000 that was originally requested.

Whalen stated that five companies have responded to the request for proposals and will be visiting Crook County to gather information and prepare their bids. The bids must be submitted by April, she said, and a contractor while be approved on May 17 to be issued a notice to proceed on June 1.

Whalen sits on the selection committee, she said, along with Larry Suchor of Pine Haven. She noted that public meetings will take place during the summer as part of the study and, with the agreement of the other commissioners, planned that the venue will be the Carlile fire hall.