Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City staff calls Rawlins water system in ‘crisis’; 10-year capital needs estimated at about $48.5 million
Summary
City staff told the Rawlins City Council the municipal water system has frequent breaks, mounting debt and a prioritized list of replacement projects totaling roughly $48.5 million; staff detailed grants and proposed next steps including slip-lining and a Sage Creek transmission project with partial external funding.
City staff described the Rawlins water system as being in crisis and presented staff's 10-year capital needs, the largest single enterprise need shown in the city's preliminary fiscal-year 2026 budget review.
“...we are in a crisis with our water lines both in town and out of town,” the presenter said. “I would go as far as to say that we are in a crisis with our water lines both in town and out of town. We usually have about 2 to 3 water breaks a week in town.”
Staff summarized the system's financial condition: the unrestricted net position for the water fund dropped sharply during recent years, prompting rate increases; the fund now has improving reserves but still carries roughly $5.5 million of long-term debt and an outstanding interfund loan of about $812,000 to the general fund that staff said should be addressed.
Capital needs and projects
The city presented a prioritized project list compiled from the water master plan that staff said totals about $48.5 million for priority 1 and 2 projects. Key items highlighted by staff included: - Sage Creek transmission line (design and transmission): estimated at about $5.6 million; staff said a Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC) award covers roughly half of that cost. - A high-pressure potable transmission slip-line project for a corroded steel transmission main; staff said the recommended solution may be a PVC slip line or other robust lining and that slip-lining construction could take two to three weeks once mobilized.
Grants and other funding already identified in staff materials included an estimated $2.8 million from WWDC, a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award of about $962,000 for a related SCADA design, a $675,000 MRG grant for spring-collection design, and smaller ARPA design grants for specific components.
“Right now, we have a long, long way to go financially to get there,” staff said, noting the city's planned rate adjustments and existing debt burden.
Operational and staffing notes
Staff also outlined staffing and organizational adjustments: proposed moving utility billing/clerical roles into the enterprise fund, allocating portions of the city engineer and public works director to enterprise functions, and noting several vacant utility positions that staff are filling.
Next steps
Staff recommended completing design work for grant-funded projects this year with construction to follow in the next construction season. Council asked follow-up technical questions about whether lining would fully stop corrosion (engineers said lining prevents water contact with the old pipe but the corrosive soil remains a concern) and whether a proposed pump station could provide temporary pressure to the high side of the system during repairs.
Provenance (transcript evidence): water discussion began when the presenter introduced the enterprise fund segment and continued through staff presentation of the master-plan projects and grant awards.
