Local officials outline water projects in Jamestown, Stutsman County
Jun. 18—AMESTOWN — Local officials on Monday, June 17, outlined projects happening this biennium with funding from the North Dakota Department of Water Resources and gave details on projects for the next biennium that might need funding from the department.
The State Water Commission hosted a James River Basin meeting on Monday at City Hall in Jamestown.
Jason Bivens, project manager for Interstate Engineering, said the water main replacement project on Business Loop West near Dairy Queen and Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC will be done this summer.
City Engineer Travis Dillman said the North Dakota Department of Transportation plans to reconstruct Business Loop West in 2027.
"We would really like it (replaced water main) to at least go through one freeze-thaw cycle before we ever get completely new roads above that too," he said.
Dillman also said the city of Jamestown will look to pursue funding to clean trees from the rivers that run through Jamestown.
Bivens said the city of Jamestown received funding from the Department of Water Resources for the lime press replacement project. He said the city is hoping to get funding for installation and the recycle-and-reuse portion of that project.
The city of Jamestown will replace two 30-year-old filter presses used in the water-softening treatment process. The filter presses remove water from the lime sludge used to soften the drinking water.
The city of Jamestown's reuse and recycle project — which is projected to happen a few years down the road — is to reuse and recycle the backwash and lime sludge water that the city currently sends to the wastewater system.
Geneva Kaiser said Stutsman Rural Water District has submitted two projects for consideration for the next biennium.
The first project includes adding an $835,000 booster station that increases water pressure to 53 users in a 100-square-mile area south of Medina to the Streeter area.
"We've added about 150 users in that area going south of Medina and Streeter is all higher elevation and it's going uphill so they are the ones suffering for it," Kaiser said. "It would greatly help that area to do that."
Kaiser said Stutsman Rural Water District is planning to build a new water treatment facility across the road that is north of its current facility. The project will cost about $27 million. She said the current facility operates at 2,000 gallons per minute.
"We are currently reaching maximum capacity on that one," she said. "Our water usage life in February last year was right around 4,000 gallons per account per month. In the month of June last year it was 11,000 so we got to build for that. Farmers use more and more all the time for spraying. We don't have any room to upgrade the current location."Kaiser said she doesn't see construction of the new treatment facility happening in the next biennium.
"We just want to get it out there for future planning," she said.
The Department of Water Resources will be in a shortfall in regard to the amount of funding requests it is receiving for projects, said Andrea Travnicek, director of the Department of Water Resources and secretary of the State Water Commission.
Stutsman County Commissioner Jerry Bergquist said some counties could be reaching a point where they can't raise the grade of the roads any more. He asked if the State Water Commission could relook at the drainage map and consider areas that don't drain.
"My reasoning for that is I think that would be extremely good information for the Legislature to know that," he said. "It would be really good information for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for when we have the next presidential declaration (for flooding). ... We are showing the wrong picture when you look at those drainage maps. Those areas don't drain. The water stays right there."
