Many public water users in Duchesne County will pay higher fees once a new pipeline from Starvation Reservoir is built, officials involved in the project say.
Members of the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District board and local government officials will be on hand to answer questions during a public meeting Thursday to discuss the way the 28-mile pipeline project will affect Duchesne County residents.
Duchesne County Water Conservancy District General Manager Randy Crozier said the meeting is a critical step in securing grants and loans for the project.
“It’s just a part of the process so we can acquire funding,” he said. “We are also going to answer any questions the public may have.”
The new pipeline is projected to cost $22 million, and the brunt of the cost will be covered by government grants and loans, as well as funds from the Permanent Community Impact Board.
“After preliminary conversations with these funding entities, we feel fairly confident we can put the funding package together the way we are pursuing it,” Crozier said. “I can’t think of another funding package as attractive as this one. The cost should be very feasible.”
Despite the aggressive search for outside funding, it will still be necessary for public water customers in Duchesne County to pick up a portion of the pipeline tab, Crozier said.
Water users within the districts of East Duchesne Culinary, Johnson Water, Myton City, Roosevelt City, Ballard, and Cedarview/Montwell will see their connection fees increase by $10 per month. People building new homes or businesses in the area serviced by the pipeline will also have to pay an impact fee ranging from $1,700 to $2,100.
“I think people will be supportive of the project once they look at the long-term needs of this area,” Crozier said. “The difficult thing is you have to build infrastructure up front and sometimes you have to pay for it before the usage is there in order to provide for our future.”
The pipeline would provide water to all of eastern Duchesne County, as well as a much-needed second culinary water source to Roosevelt.
Brad Hancock, Roosevelt city manager, said the city has nearly doubled its culinary water connections in the last six years. And while Roosevelt’s urgency for additional water sources subsided slightly when Cedarview and Montwell water users created their own water district several years ago, Hancock said there is still wisdom in looking to the future.
“The need for more water may not be absolutely critical today, but we are still growing,” he said. “We don’t want to wait until there is a water crisis and then try to manage it. Everyone needs to be on board to make this project work. It’s too big for any one entity.”
Hancock said the climate also is right for undertaking a project like this. Government funding is available, and the economic downturn means the cost of construction and building materials has decreased.
“I don’t think we would be able to build it for what we can today,” he said.
Crozier said the design of the pipeline is already 40 percent complete. The pipeline would take advantage of the new, $39.4 million Duchesne Valley Water Treatment Plant, which was funded entirely by the Central Utah Water Conservancy District as part of its improvement plans. The plant is expected to be completed by October 2010 and will increase the water output from Starvation Reservoir from 4 million gallons to 8 million gallons.
Crozier said the additional water output will not be utilized without the construction of the Highway 40 pipeline.“The infrastructure that is presently in place can’t carry any more water,” he said.
The pipeline is expected to be operational by April 2011.

SIDEBAR

How will the $22 million pipeline be financed?
Randy Crozier, manager of the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District, said public water users will pick up a small portion of the $22 million tab through increased monthly fees. Crozier said he expects to be able to pick up nearly $21.5 million in loans, grants or donations for the project from the following sources:
• $6.25 million from the Permanent Community Impact Fund Board
• $5 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (595 program)
• $4 million from the state Division of Drinking Water
• $6.2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• $550,000 from capital contribution of Newfield