Committee approves grant agreement to fund drought-planning blending study for water reuse and reservoirs

The Finance Committee recommended that the City Council authorize the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities to accept a grant via the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security and execute related documents to fund blending studies and drought planning for the city’s reservoir and reuse systems.

Frank Strong, engineering manager for the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities, said the grant will fund studies needed to show that water from the North Crow, Old North Crow and South Crow reservoirs can be blended and treated without creating corrosive or adverse water quality. Strong said the work also includes planning that could extend reuse to the Lions Park area so that, during drought or curtailment, reuse water could be used at the Sherrard Water Treatment Plant to supply drinking water to the city.

Strong told the committee the federal grant application was administered through the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security as a pass-through for FEMA funding. Committee members asked whether state funding was available and how the pass-through worked; Strong said the state applied in conjunction with the city and there were no local state funds identified for this work.

During the vote, committee member Moody said he would vote no because of concerns over federal “strings” attached to the grant. The motion to adopt the resolution otherwise passed the committee and will be forwarded to the City Council for final approval.

Committee members discussed including Casper formation well sources in the blending study so that monitoring wells and data would be available when those wells are brought online under the city’s agreement with US Gold; Strong said the grant scope would include those wells so the city would not need a separate blending study later.

The resolution authorizes the Board of Public Utilities to enter the grant agreement and to pursue the blending, reuse and planning work outlined in the application.