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Bozeman and Belgrade weigh shared water and wastewater options; engineers cite $15–18M lift‑station estimate
Summary
City managers and engineers discussed whether to invest in local lift stations or a gravity pipeline to share wastewater capacity and water supplies. Presenters said a northwest lift station could cost about $15–18 million; staff were asked to explore feasibility, costs and agreements.
Bozeman and Belgrade officials opened a policy-level conversation about sharing water and wastewater infrastructure, with staff and engineers outlining tradeoffs, cost estimates and next steps but no formal action or vote.
Presenters pointed to a near-term situation in which Bozeman must substantially expand wastewater capacity; that expansion could create near-term excess capacity that might be used regionally if interconnections are practical. City staff said Bozeman's existing wastewater plant currently serves roughly 25,000 people and that planned upgrades will substantially increase capacity on a timeline driven by regulatory requirements.
Engineers and a developer at the meeting estimated that a new lift station proposed for Bozeman's northwest corner would cost in the neighborhood of $15–18 million and could serve thousands of acres; presenters emphasized that any comparison must add pipeline construction costs if a regional pipeline to Belgrade were considered as an alternative. One engineer summarized the operational advantage: gravity-fed pipelines have much lower operations-and-maintenance costs and greater reliability than pump stations, which require ongoing power and redundancy.
On water sharing, Bozeman staff described their system as surface-water driven with three primary sources and reported storage figures of about 16,000 acre-feet in a normal year and roughly 12,000 acre-feet in a drought year; 2024 withdrawals were cited at about 7,100 acre-feet. Belgrade staff said the city relies on groundwater and has water rights and storage projects in progress; staff emphasized Belgrade is not facing an imminent shortage but that coordinated planning could reduce long-term costs for taxpayers.
Several elected officials and city managers proposed that staff explore engineering and legal frameworks, including potential interlocal agreements and a joint resolution to authorize and fund feasibility work. City managers said they want clear direction from their elected bodies before committing significant staff time or money; the meeting ended with an instruction to take the conversation back to each council/commission and consider whether to provide that direction.
No formal motions or votes were taken at the meeting; officials framed the next steps as exploratory: staff-led engineering analyses, cost-share scenarios, and joint discussions about governance and conservation measures.
The meeting included public comment urging that officials treat water as an ecological as well as an engineering problem.
