West Bend presentation finds municipal wells, storage likely adequate through 2035 under high‑growth scenario

West Bend water utility staff and a consultant from Strand Associates presented a water supply service area plan to the Board of Public Works and the Common Council on Sept. 22, saying the city’s groundwater sources and storage should meet projected demand through 2035.

The plan, prepared in response to a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources requirement for public water systems that serve 10,000 or more customers and operate their own wells, inventories existing sources, provides population and demand projections, and identifies potential source alternatives, consultant Steve Klieser said. “The firm well capacity for the city of West Bend is 5,610 gallons per minute,” Klieser said. “The 2035 maximum day demand is looking to be just under 5,000 gallons per minute,” leaving an estimated reserve of about 643 gallons per minute under a high‑growth projection.

The nut of the plan is compliance and future planning. State administrative code provisions cited in the presentation require communities in the Great Lakes Basin, including West Bend, to develop and keep a service area plan if the community may later seek an increased withdrawal from the basin. The plan documents existing supply (the city has nine wells with a total capacity reported at 7,210 gpm and a firm capacity of 5,610 gpm), inventories elevated and ground storage, and maps a not‑final future service area the utility might serve.

Key findings presented by Klieser and city staff: - Nine city wells reported with total capacity 7,210 gpm and firm capacity (largest well out of service) 5,610 gpm (Steve Klieser). - Under a high‑growth projection, 2035 maximum‑day demand is projected just under 5,000 gpm, leaving roughly 643 gpm of firm‑supply reserve (Klieser). - Storage analysis showed about 2,270,000 gallons of storage reserve to meet peak domestic and fire‑protection demands under the same projection; the city’s fire‑protection goal is 3,500 gpm for three hours (Klieser). - Three pressure zones were described (east, central, west); the west zone receives supply via booster from the central zone and has no independent well sources (Klieser). - The plan lists source alternatives (deep wells, shallow wells, and Lake Michigan supply) and concludes that existing groundwater sources are the most practical through at least 2035, with Lake Michigan supply presenting substantial treatment and distribution challenges for a distributed well network (Klieser).

Klieser and staff emphasized that the water supply service area plan is narrower than a full water system master plan: it documents sources and service area and supports DNR compliance but does not replace a detailed distribution system master plan. Travis (staff member) said the utility has budgeted a more detailed water system plan for next year that will include full mapping of mains, storage and pumping facilities, and a condition assessment. Klieser noted new treatment infrastructure: a granular activated carbon facility serving Wells 4, 11 and 12 is nearly complete and expected to go online the following week.

Council members and board members asked several operational questions, including the timing of a full master plan, whether a detailed distribution map exists publicly, and whether risk and resilience planning covers drought and other disruptions. Klieser said the city completed the EPA‑required risk and resilience assessment and emergency response plan five years earlier and will update those documents this year; he said the full master plan (budgeted for next year) will incorporate distribution‑level analysis and operational performance reviews.

The presentation provided the required opportunity for public comment; no decisions or votes on the plan were recorded at the meeting. Staff said the plan will be available to use if West Bend later seeks an increased Great Lakes withdrawal and will inform the planned, more detailed water system master plan.