Staton officials warn Detroit Dam drawdown could cripple local water treatment; city pursues mitigation and federal help

Staton city staff warned the City Council on July 21 that a planned drawdown of Detroit Lake could produce highly turbid inflows that the city’s slow-sand filtration plant is not built to treat. Interim Public Works Director Barry Buchanan said the city’s treatment filters lack pretreatment and recycling capability and that the consequences of running the system with heavily silted water could be severe.

“Given the information that we have heard this morning, catastrophic is truly a kind word,” Buchanan said, describing the operational risk to the plant. He told council the city must “do something” and that options include pretreatment systems, additional wells, expanded aquifer-storage-and-recovery (ASR) or other costly mitigation.

City Manager Julia Knight said Staton is pursuing multiple tracks: technical studies with vendors to test pretreatment options, legal review of the court-ordered drawdown, and lobbying at state and federal levels to delay the drawdown or secure funding. “What we need is the court to not do a drawdown until we have mitigations in place, and we need money to get those mitigations in place,” Knight said.

Why it matters: The city’s base water demand is roughly 1.5 million gallons per day and the treatment processes are smaller and less redundant than Salem’s, staff said, leaving Staton more vulnerable if highly turbid water arrives at the plant. Salem has declared a local emergency and is pursuing significant measures; Staton staff said Salem has told them it cannot reliably commit to supplying Staton if its own supplies are strained.

What the city is doing: Staff outlined four response categories—avoidance, minimization, mitigation and alternative sources—and said they are (1) seeking a possible delay or modification through legal and Corps-of-Engineers engagement, (2) testing pretreatment vendors to determine whether sedimentation or dissolved-air-flotation (DAF) systems are viable here, and (3) exploring additional groundwater wells or ASR as alternative sources. Buchanan said vendor input in the coming weeks should clarify whether pretreatment can handle the expected turbidity.

Costs and timing: Staff acknowledged time and money are constraints. Grant funding that once appeared likely has been reduced for region projects, and some mitigation options are “extremely high cost and complicated,” Buchanan said. Knight said the city’s lobbyist is engaging Corps and administration officials and that community advocacy may be needed to press for federal support.

Council next steps: Staff said they will return with more technical findings after vendor assessments and will continue legal and political outreach. They will also publish updated information on the city website. Council members asked for a clear summary of likely costs and timelines once vendors report back.

Ending: City staff warned that without mitigation the drawdown could jeopardize Staton’s drinking-water supply and said they expect more engineering data and Corps filings in the coming weeks that could affect next steps. Staff asked council and the community to expect an evolving situation and to be prepared to support outreach for delay or funding if needed.