By Doug Hare EBS STAFF
BIG
SKY ‒ Earlier this month, the Big Sky Resort Area District Tax Board approved
putting the following usage of the 1 percent resort tax proposal before the
registered voters of the district in May:
“…60
percent of project costs, up to a maximum of $27 million, towards construction
of an expansion and upgrade to the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District
(BSCWSD) Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF).”
The potential funding would address future shortcomings of
the existing WRRF, upping average day-rated treatment capacity from 600,000
gallons to 910,000 gallons. The upgrade would also be conditioned by the
BSCWSD’s commitment to facilitate 500 additional Single Family Equivalents in a
bid to address ongoing workforce housing shortages. The proposal continues:
“…100
percent of project costs, up to $12 million, towards construction of a
wastewater lift station and forcemain to convey wastewater from a future Canyon
Area Sewer District to the WRRF, along with a treated water pipeline from the
WRRF back to the Canyon Area for reuse and potential groundwater discharge
and/or aquifer recharge.”
This
tentative Canyon Area project would only be funded if a Canyon Area Sewer
District were to form and request an agreement with the BSCWSD to take
wastewater from the Canyon. BSCWSD agreed to own and operate the future Canyon
Area lift station and pipelines.
According
to the BSCWSD’s website, taking raw wastewater from the Canyon Area, treating
it to Class A-1 standards, and returning it to the Canyon Area for reuse and
potential groundwater discharge/recharge would be a significant improvement for
the Gallatin River watershed over the current situation, where they estimate
100,000 gallons per day of Gallatin County-approved septic tank effluent and
Montana Department of Environmental Quality approved Level II treatment system
effluent is being discharged into the groundwater.
Treated
water from BSCWSD’s speculative WRRF Upgrade will result in approximately 99
percent less bacteria, 90 percent less nitrogen, and 90 percent less phosphorus
entering the groundwater in the Canyon Area, according to project documents.
BSCWSD
General Manager Ron Edwards said this project would be a net benefit to the
environment and would not alter zoning or land use that has been previously
permitted by Gallatin County. Land use, zoning and resulting development
density can only be changed by Gallatin County officials. Edwards also noted
that the availability of water and water rights in the Canyon Area will
ultimately limit growth, a constraint that will prevent the area from
significant densification.
Representatives
from local conservation groups, including the Gallatin River Task Force and the
Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, Inc., have expressed concerns about the Canyon Area
project as putting the cart before the horse, demanding that more caution and due
diligence must be done before giving the project the green light.
Pete
Manka, board member of the BSCWD, takes those concerns to heart. “There are so
many contingencies before the Canyon Area project comes to fruition,” Manka
said in a phone interview. “We are really just playing the cards we are dealt
to try and find the most environmentally sound decision for Big Sky and the
Gallatin River. We will be working with conservation groups along the way to
assuage fears that this project would be detrimental to our local river. ”
Visit the BSCWSD website at bigskywatersewer.com to read more.
