Many Wyoming towns are facing failing water systems, like leaky and corroded water pipes, which could lead to dry faucets. State lawmakers met this week to consider how to help.
Lawmakers tasked with water issues listened to stakeholders talk about aging infrastructure for almost three hours on Aug. 7. The dense and complex issue left many on the interim Select Water Committee stumped, like Rep. Ken Chestek (D-Laramie).
“We’re kind of off track here and it’s very confusing and that’s never good,” Chestek said.
The consensus is a lot of Wyoming towns have old water systems that need updated.
Take Rawlins. Their city water delivery system failed several years ago, leaving some residents without water for days. Since then, water restrictions have been enforced typically during the summer. The city also raised utility rates to help pay for a portion of the $8.6 million tab to overhaul the infrastructure. Some renovations have been completed, but the city is still trying to secure additional federal and state grant money to finish the project.
That’s where a lot of Wyoming towns are finding themselves. There’s actually money to help them, but often town officials don’t have the knowledge or capacity to apply for grants.
Last September, WyoFile reported that dozens of Wyoming communities were likely going to lose their state-administered federal money because they’d yet to file necessary documents to fulfill the grant by the Oct. 1 deadline.
This sentiment was echoed at the recent legislature committee meeting.
“With small municipalities, they don't normally have full-time staff. A lot of the time to come up with funding for these types of projects, it’s basically given to the clerk [or] treasurer,” said Shawn King, who manages the Office of State Lands and Investments fund for these types of projects. “That clerk [or] treasurer may work 20 hours a week, if that. Those clerk[s] [or] treasurers oftentimes aren't educated in what governmental accounting is.”
And while the state launched an initiative to help last year, the Wyoming Grant Assistance Program, stakeholders said they need more help and legislative direction.
The Wyoming Association of Municipalities asked lawmakers to advance a study to figure out what communities in Wyoming need the most help with, and what kind of help is needed.
No bill was drafted, but discussion will continue at another meeting in November.
Colorado River Basin updates
A separate portion of the committee meeting focused on an update on Wyoming’s role in the ever evolving Colorado River Basin water dilemma.
Wyoming continues to negotiate with the seven states in the system on how much water the state will keep and how much it’ll send downstream to other users. Some said that process is now made harder with the closure of eight smalltown newspapers.
State engineer Brandon Gebhart spoke to lawmakers about a pilot program he’s working on. It would essentially pay voluntary Wyoming water users to use less. It’s a new and complex program, and Gebhart is trying to hold informational meetings in Wyoming towns. He said residents are asking him to give more notice, which has become a problem.
“A lot of those newspapers that are no longer around were in the area that we need to provide this notice,” said Gebhart. “So we need to get creative with how we provide that notice.”
Gebhart was referring to the parent company of eight Wyoming newspapers that announced its abrupt closure earlier this week. That includes the Pinedale Roundup, which was the only paper in Sublette County.
