Evansville utility starts bonding process for new water plant, schedules public hearing; groundwater PFAS study approved

The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility Board on Nov. 12 adopted a declaratory resolution to begin the process of borrowing for a new water-plant project, authorizing staff to pursue bonding and setting up a public hearing for community comment.

Board members and staff said the board intends to secure an initial draw of roughly $50 million to begin work on elements of a new plant that would be common to both the surface-water design and a potential hybrid groundwater-surface solution. "We can start our first draw on that, which will be about $50,000,000," an unidentified board member said during the discussion. Staff added that further bonding details and the specific list of projects for the first draw will be presented to the board in the next two weeks and that the next meeting will be advertised as a public hearing.

Why it matters: the resolution is a procedural step that recognizes the need for water-plant improvements and permits the utility to pursue borrowing; it does not itself authorize spending. Board counsel described the declaratory resolution as the first reading that allows staff to prepare bond documents and notify the public before any vote to issue bonds.

Groundwater modeling and PFAS assessment Staff also won approval for Work Order No. 3 with Entera Incorporated for $54,698 to build a regional groundwater-flow model for the local aquifer. The purpose, staff said, is to assess groundwater availability and to evaluate the risk of PFOS/PFAS contamination associated with any induced recharge from the river. Entera's work order is a desktop modeling exercise that will use previously collected field data from earlier work orders.

Utility staff said the model results will inform whether parts of a groundwater solution are feasible and where further field verification or test wells may be needed. "That model will let us play with the different areas to see what we can come up with, how far do we close to the river, how far away from the river," an unidentified staff member said.

Lead and Copper Rule and community outreach During the meeting a technical presenter explained the new Lead and Copper Rule requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act and described the utility's public outreach: the utility has completed a service-line inventory but not yet identified the materials for every line and expects to finish that identification in 2025. Staff said the utility sent about 70,000 letters—one per service line—to customers explaining the program and will sample under the rule’s schedule. The utility also plans targeted testing of schools and daycare centers and will hold a community conversation on Monday at 2:30 p.m. in the same room to explain next steps and answer questions.

What’s next: staff said detailed bond documents identifying the initial projects will be presented at the next meeting and the board will hold the advertised public hearing before any final bonding vote.

Provenance: Transcript discussion begins SEG 663 and continues through SEG 868 (declaratory-resolution discussion); groundwater-modeling discussion appears SEG 388–516; Lead and Copper Rule discussion appears SEG 878–971.