Casper to apply for state mineral royalty grant to replace aging water mains in four sections

Casper utility staff on Sept. 9 asked City Council permission to apply for state mineral royalty grant funds to replace four priority water-main sections identified in the city’s five-year capital plan.

Ethan Yonker presented the fiscal-year-26 priority water-main replacement package, listing four segments: Poplar Street (20th to 29th), 29th Street (Poplar to Come Kaufman), Yellowstone (Wilson to Lowell) and Jim Bridger Drive (DeSmet to Bel Air). Yonker said the prioritization used system data—pipe age, material and repair frequency—and noted that the four segments account for 29 water-main breaks in the recorded data.

Yonker described pipe materials as ductile iron and cast iron in the affected areas and said those materials corrode over time. Staff asked council for permission to apply to the State Land Investment Board’s mineral royalty grant program (WaterSmart/related mineral royalty funds cited in the meeting) to fund replacement of the four listed sections. Councilors agreed and staff said they would proceed with the grant application.

No detailed funding award was announced at the meeting; staff said available city funding alone would not cover all identified FY26 priorities and that the grant would help complete the highest-priority sections.