Study confirms water district viable for Carlile residents

The best way for residents in the Carlile area to gain access to quality water will be to hook on to the City of Gillette’s Madison Water System, according to the results of a study launched by the county commissioners.

“All in all, I think this draft report shows it is doable and it would supply that long-term, reliable water source for the area,” said Jaime Tarver of DOWL, the company that performed the investigation.

With the study complete, the buck must now be passed to local residents, who will need to organize and move ahead with forming a water district if they want to see the project happen.

The 300-plus residences currently rely on individual wells, 91 of which were tested throughout the study. Launched to address water quality issues that saw several wells suddenly run dry or become acidic a couple of years ago, the study looked for an area-wide solution.

“We are getting to the end of this project,” said Tarver as she presented the draft report to the commission. “There is an enormous amount of information in this report.”

Tarver reminded the commissioners that numerous out-of-balance pH wells had been identified in the area. A total of 16 were too low in pH, while 13 were too high.

Of the 91 wells tested, 88 had high levels of total dissolved solids and 84 had high levels of sulfates.

The study thus confirmed that water quality issues abound within the study area and set about looking for ways to solve them. It was determined that the Madison aquifer is “really the only reliable source,” said Tarver.

This left two main alternatives: a regional system that taps into the City of Gillette’s existing system, or a regional system that taps into a new water supply from the Madison formation.

Financially speaking, said Tarver, the former is more feasible. The estimated cost was split into 24 individual service areas, each of which will require between $300,000 and $2.2 million to complete.

The project would be split into six phases over a number of years. The first phase would cost $9.5 million, she said, followed by totals ranging between $4.4 million and $6.8 million for the five following phases.

This would include installation of a service line for any residents that signed up for the service prior to an established deadline. After that time, any resident wishing to tap into the service would need to pay these costs.

The study investigated several options for an entity that would take charge of the project and its resulting water system, such as a joint powers board or improvement and service district. The final recommendation was for a water district.

“We recommend the water district because it is the most simple legal entity for this purpose and a water district does have condemnation powers,” said Tarver.

The study recommends forming a steering committee to represent those within the proposed district. The committee would provide guidance prior to the water district board being established.

To form that district, said Tarver, would require an affirmative vote from 25% of the landowners within the proposed area representing 25% of the assessed property value. The county commissioners would then have the authority to approve the petition to form the district.

Once formed, the district can levy up to 8 mills without a vote of district electors. Commissioner Jeanne Whalen requested that DOWL investigate whether these mills would be assessed from all county residents or just those within the district, as the former would not be desirable.

To make the project happen would require a service agreement between the district and the City of Gillette. Tarver suggested it would likely also require a plant investment fee to cover the city’s costs for providing the water and possibly to include a proportionate share of the Campbell County Capital Facilities Tax levied on city residents to pay a portion of the infrastructure costs.

Additional supply may be required, as Gillette’s system was not designed to include the Carlile area. Users may also be restricted on flow rate and volume limits.

The study also looked at financing, said Tarver: “Is this possible? These are big dollars that we’re talking about here for a relatively small population.”

A budget was produced to include operations, loans, debts, revenue and an estimate of monthly water bills, she said, telling the commission that “our goal is to make it financially self-supporting.”

The estimated monthly water bill per dwelling unit was calculated to be a $61 base rate and $39 for a usage of 10,000 gallons at a total of $100.

To be self-sustaining, said Tarver, the project will need “the right financing package”. The study looked at funding opportunities ranging from Wyoming Water Development to Abandoned Mine Lands and a special legislative appropriation.

The only funding scenario that did not go into the red within a few years was a Wyoming Water Development grant and a USDA Rural Development/Rural Utility Services grant and loan, said Tarver.

There are issues that will need to be considered further, Tarver said, such as that many of the loan options will require interim financing to pay interest on the loans during construction – which could be difficult for a new entity.

Tarver also pointed out that the project will take multiple years and the district will likely need to pay for infrastructure prior to having water to sell to its members. That means, she said, that the district would need to assess a cost from its potential users before they get any water.

“Folks just have to understand that in the beginning,” she said. “That’s oftentimes a challenge.”

She also suggested investigating the possibility of a special legislative appropriation.

The next step, said Tarver, is for residents to organize themselves. There’s quite a bit of work to be done to make this happen, she said, and the report gives residents the tools to do it.

To articulate this to residents, a public meeting has been scheduled for October 20 at the Moorcroft Town Center, in the gym to ensure adequate social distancing is available. A narrated presentation will be made available a week later for those unable to make it.

“Our goal there is to clearly present the findings and the recommendations of this report,” she said. “The next step is really to organize themselves.”