Water board to develop a master water supply plan

At the May 18 Hot Springs County Rural Water Joint Powers Board (HSCRWJPB) meeting held at the Annex building, board member Tony Basko gave an update from the Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC) meeting, which was on May 11 in Cheyenne.

Basko attended the meeting along with HSCRWJPB Chairman Tom Ryan and Thermopolis Mayor Adam Estenson. At the WWDC meeting, they discussed their Level 2 application to drill for a new water source at Lysite Mountain.

Basko reported that the commission recommended not to fund the project but to fund an alternate “Phase 1 Study” to develop a “Master water supply plan” for the entire Hot Springs County. The commission is glad that the Town of Thermopolis is working with the other districts and the town’s involvement can help the process move forward. 

The WWDC wants to look into all the possible groundwater sources closer to town. One of the commission’s biggest concerns was the distance and the cost of getting water from the Lysite Mountain well site to the town and other water districts. The cost is about a $40 million-plus-dollar project.

Basko said, “They were not confident in funding that. They want to look at all the close-range sources plus looking at what it would cost to upgrade the water plant to the current anticipated EPA standards, and then kind of balance the economics and risks associated with each potential solution and see what makes the best sense, to drill wells or upgrade the plant or do a combination thereof.” 

Basko said they expressed some concern to the WWDC that they don’t typically fund plant upgrades. But according to Basko, “several of the legislators on the water committee jumped in and said, ‘That’s correct. But we as a state know the issues and we have funded water plant upgrades in the past at times through other means, and can possibly do that again if that is the better solution.’”

Basko added, “They realized that this is an issue. They want to move fast and they know this is going to hold us up for a year. They don’t want it to delay us for two years, if at all possible.”

According to Basko, the WWDC will begin getting a scope of work together immediately to take bids from engineering firms to do the studies. The bids will be due in October so that the proposal can be presented to the Wyoming state legislature in January 2024. If the legislature approves funding, the process could hopefully continue on to a Level II application in the spring.

It is also worth noting that the Town of Thermopolis still is not formally a member of the HSCRWJPB. However, the town has unanimously signed a resolution to show its interest.

Additionally, there are issues with the Red Lane district and its membership in the HSCRWJPB. The Fountain of Youth, which is located in Red Lane, is for sale, and part of the purchasing agreement is that the new owner will take control of the Red Lane water system. Their involvement in the HSCRWJPB is in limbo at this time.

On the agenda for the next meeting is the topic of moving forward with finalizing membership of the HSCRWJPB.