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Public works reports spring water drop to ~1.5M gallons/day; wells, pumps and street work planned
Summary
Public Works Director Cody Gill told the Rawlins City Council on June 3 that spring flows into the city have fallen to about 1.5 million gallons per day from nearly 4 million last year, prompting plans to bring wells and a pretreatment plant online and to prioritize park irrigation if restrictions are needed.
Cody Gill, public works director, briefed the Rawlins City Council on June 3 about lower spring flows and the cityresponse. "Currently, right now, we're getting in about 1,500,000 gallons a day in comparison to last year when we were getting close to 4,000,000 gallons a day," Gill said, attributing the drop to low snowpack and early melt.
Gill said the city has not yet started its well field this year but expects to bring wells online in the next weeks and to run a pretreatment plant to offset spring shortfalls. "If there is any kind of restrictions at all, it'll be just an irrigation restriction. We'd look at parks first to restrict parks to try to help maintain that before we even ask of any residents," Gill said.
On river pumps and other infrastructure, Gill said pumps arrived and crews expect to install them within days of scheduling with a crane company. He also reported progress on a "scaling implementation" and sensors for the treatment system and invited council for a future field trip to see springs and the water treatment plant in mid-July.
Gill also outlined street and paving issues: summer maintenance has begun, the city will prioritize major patches and some overlays, and a dirt-patch machine will address severe "alligator" sections. He warned that an aging asphalt plant and a six-person crew limit the city's capacity and that increased sewer repairs and water breaks require more patching, slowing broader overlay work.
Council members asked about a pothole schedule and whether contracting out work would speed repairs. Gill said outsourcing could help but that having contractors work with the city's old plant would require staffing and an on-site operator because restarting the plant takes about an hour and the plant cannot be left unattended. "If we were to do that too, we would probably have to really look at maybe getting another staff person," he said.
Gill also reported that Endeberg Road will go to construction bid shortly and that utility and infrastructure work would begin first with sidewalk and asphalt planned the following spring.
