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Washington County Water Conservancy District outlines $915 million wastewater-reuse plan; board told funding will be phased
Summary
Tom Cox (online) and Division staff described a large Washington County proposal to reuse wastewater for irrigation and, eventually, culinary use; staff said the total project cost is about $915 million and anticipated phased funding, primarily via transferred WIRA/WIF funds, and that more board review will come at a later meeting.
Tom Cox (appearing online) provided an overview of a major feasibility application from Washington County Water Conservancy District to treat and reuse wastewater for irrigation and, in the longer term, for culinary use.
Cox described a high-level scope: storage, pipelines and upgraded treatment to make reused water suitable for culinary uses in 15–20 years. He said the current total project estimate is approximately $915,000,000 and that the district envisions phased construction over many years. Division staff said an anticipated funding source is a legislative transfer of WIRA (federal/state) funds into the Conservation and Development (C&D) fund: $195 million has already been identified as a transfer (in $50 million-per-year increments), and staff said they expect the project to be funded in phases from the Water Infrastructure Fund (WIF) and C&D as appropriate.
Staff told the board they will treat the application as a regular C&D funding project to the extent possible and anticipate phasing to match available funding. Cox and staff said the district would welcome any state funds the board could provide and acknowledged the legislative role and constraints on use of transferred funds.
Questions from board members focused on funding mechanics and water rights; Cox and staff said many details remain under discussion, including exact inclusion of items in the phased scope, environmental reviews, and water-rights questions. Staff said the application will return to the board next month with more detail.
Ending
Staff asked board members to expect a fuller staff presentation at the next meeting when the application is more developed; no board action was recorded during the briefing meeting.
