The City of Rawlins recently made three major achievements in our water infrastructure projects: pipeline installation in the Sage Creek Basin, delivery and installation of screens for Filter #1, and received a $675,000 State Land and Investment Board Mineral and Royalties Grant (SLIB MRG).
For the replacement of some of the woodstave pipeline in the Sage Creek Basin, Rocky Mountain Industrial Construction Services (RMI) has installed the PVC pipeline parallel to the existing woodstave pipeline for the full 10,000 feet. They are now testing the pipeline, and will then switch our active flow from the woodstave pipeline to the PVC pipe. Once the flows have made it to the treatment plant, we will be able to judge how much additional water has been recovered. This project was funded by City Council last fall using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and Impact Assistance funds from the Power Company of Wyoming. Thanks to RMI for their hard work through the weather and rough terrain this winter and spring!
Our water treatment plant has also received the final screens for Filter #1, which were ordered in August 2021 and funded by Impact Assistance funds from the Power Company of Wyoming. They were delayed due to manufacturing and shipping issues, but have now been installed and are fully operational. This means all four Water Treatment Plant filters are completely functional, although this summer our team has been able to keep up with the reduced spring flow without a 4th filter.
Lastly, the City of Rawlins received the second-highest award amount given by the State Land and Investment Board (SLIB) on June 2nd. This $675,000 grant is for the design of our blow-offs and cathodic protection on our main 32-mile steel transmission line. It is also to construct the cathodic protection. Due to this grant, we are able to immediately jump into this as our next phase without waiting. We are currently working with the USDA to apply for their low-interest loans which do have a component of principal forgiveness, but this can be a very lengthy process. We are also eagerly awaiting the application period for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law amd ARPA funding on July 1st.
For more information on water projects, as well as our water system as a whole, please visit www.rawlinswy.gov/water You can also contact Mira Miller, City of Rawlins Community Relations Coordinator, at 307-328-4500 ext. 1022.
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