September 26, 2023 |
Photo – Rawlins Water Treatment Facility – Bigfoot99 file photo
Rawlins and Sinclair officials met last week to talk about the future of the water agreement between the two towns.
In 2002, the town of Sinclair signed a 50-year contract to have Rawlins supply its neighbor with all its drinking water. After the system-wide failure in Rawlins last year, officials in Sinclair became concerned about the contract to receive 543 gallons of clean water per minute.
Last November, the town of Sinclair hired Wheatland attorney Rex Johnson to review the agreement. Johnson is experienced in Wyoming water law. The attorney said that Sinclair lacks a legally sound way to break the contract. Johnson suggested officials reach out to Rawlins and begin a series of discussions about the town’s water rights.
Ten months later, during the September 5th Rawlins city council meeting, City Manager Tom Sarvey said he arranged a meeting between himself and representatives from the Sinclair government to discuss the two municipalities’ continuing water agreement.
Sarvey said the contract between Rawlins and Sinclair will remain in effect until the year 2052. The city manager said water usage talks with Sinclair officials needed to happen at once.
The first water meeting between officials from the two communities took place September 13th. During Tuesday’s Rawlins city council meeting, City Manager Sarvey said with 30 years left on their 50-year contract, both communities will benefit from an open line of dialog. Sarvey said last Wednesday’s meeting focused on the ongoing level one water study and planned upgrades to the city’s water supply lines.
Sarvey said the city is waiting to hear back from the State Loan and Investment Board, or SLIB, about the transmission line project.
Last year, the federal government released $50 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding to the state of Wyoming. Municipalities were required to petition SLIB for APRA money to pay for infrastructure improvement projects.
SLIB distributed funding based on a scoring system. The city of Rawlins requested nearly $7.4 million to upgrade its water transmission lines from the Sage Creek Basin.
Out of the 113 applications SLIB received, Rawlins placed third from the bottom and received no ARPA money.
Last month, SLIB announced it will distribute one last round of ARPA grants. Rawlins applied for $1.5 million to design an improved water transmission system.
At Tuesday’s Rawlins city council meeting, Sarvey said this year, instead of requesting money to repair the water transmission lines, the city asked for funding to develop a plan to fix the system. The city manager said he’ll keep the council informed about when the grant distribution event will be so they can attend.
The SLIB grant approval announcement is likely to take place sometime in late October in Cheyenne. Sarvey said he plans to conduct water meetings with Sinclair four times a year.
