JULY 21, 2025 |
Photo – Rawlins Water Treatment Facility – Bigfoot99 file photo
Rawlins crews are operating under limited irrigation restrictions due to low water flow. However, city officials are confident that restarting the pretreatment plant will prevent the need to extend those restrictions to residents.
During the July 1st Rawlins City Council meeting, City Manager Tom Sarvey announced that Sage Creek Springs, the city’s primary source of drinking water, is no longer producing enough to meet current demand.
Audio PlayerCity Manager Tom Sarvey said parks crews, who use approximately one million gallons of water per day to maintain the city’s green spaces and cemetery, will be asked to reduce their usage by half. Sarvey also announced that the pretreatment plant, which processes raw water from the North Platte River before it enters the main treatment facility, will be restarted to supply roughly one million additional gallons of water per day.
At the July 15th Rawlins City Council meeting, Public Works Director Cody Dill updated the governing body on the state of the city’s water supply. Dill explained that irrigation restrictions, which are focused solely on outdoor watering, are different than broader water restrictions, which would limit the amount of water Rawlins’ residents could use from any source, including showers and the tap. The Public Works Director said only the city’s parks crews are currently subject to irrigation restrictions.
Audio PlayerDill said the city receives 2.6 million gallons of water daily, while usage fluctuates between 2.5 and 2.8 million gallons a day.
The Public Works Director reported that he was working to bring the pretreatment plant back online. Preliminary tests showed promising results.
Audio PlayerBuilt in 2000, the pretreatment plant takes raw water from the North Platte River and removes the majority of particulates and debris before the water is sent to the treatment plant for further refinement. Without the pretreatment plant, the raw river water would quickly clog the treatment plant filters. Although the facility is a quarter of a century old, it has seen little use since its construction.
Following the catastrophic water system failure in March 2022, which left many residents without water for nearly a week, city officials invested millions of dollars to bring the pretreatment plant back online. At the July 15th City Council meeting, Public Works Director Cody Dill reported that the facility is nearly fully operational. Dill said the plant can produce an additional 1 million gallons of water every day.
Audio PlayerDill said he anticipates lifting the city’s irrigation restrictions once the pretreatment plant is back online. As the summer progresses, the Public Works Director said he does not expect residents to face any watering limits. If further restrictions are needed, the Public Works Director said they will apply only to city parks crews, not residents.