City reports water deficit at springs, starts conservation steps and weighs costly transmission fixes

City Manager Sarvey and public works staff told the Rawlins City Council on July 1 that the city is using more water than the springs currently produce and that storage tanks are below preferred levels.

Sarvey said the springs are producing about 2,900,000 gallons (timeframe not specified in the presentation) and that current usage is about 3,200,000 gallons, leaving an approximate shortfall of 300,000 gallons. He said each of the city’s tanks holds about 7,000,000 gallons and that, at the time of the meeting, tanks were roughly 32–33% full.

To reduce the shortfall, staff said parks and cemetery irrigation will be reduced (parks’ irrigation use was estimated at about one million gallons per day; staff proposed cutting that by about half to reduce demand by about 500,000 gallons). Sarvey said the pretreatment plant will be brought online within weeks and can produce up to about 1,000,000 gallons per day when operating at capacity.

Council members pressed staff about high‑cost long‑term fixes. Sarvey reiterated earlier engineering findings that the city’s master water plan contains expensive items — he cited a transmission line repair and a “high pressure” line that are the largest infrastructure risks and could require tens of millions of dollars in work over time. He discussed funding options: loans through SRF/USDA programs (which can include grant/forgiveness components if the city takes qualifying loans), use of ARPA/WWDC grants, or interfund lending from the general fund with repayment by the water fund.

No decision to spend reserves was made at the meeting. Sarvey said staff can prepare a long‑term plan, pursue grant funding and, if necessary, bring proposals to council about short‑term loans from the general fund to cover critical pipe replacement.