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Columbia Falls council hears that wastewater plant is nearing capacity as major developments await allocations
Summary
City staff briefed council that differing engineering models put remaining wastewater capacity between roughly 816 and 1,894 population-equivalents; council discussed using DEQ's development-plan option, phasing large projects, and creating a wastewater allocation policy to prioritize housing types and manage Meadowlake district I&I issues.
City Manager delivered a detailed briefing to the Columbia Falls City Council on the city's wastewater treatment capacity and the implications for pending development applications. Manager said the city is "nearing capacity of the wastewater system" and explained that recent engineering work has produced different estimates depending on modeling assumptions, flood-event inclusion and the post‑expansion performance of a recently completed bioreactor.
The manager told the council the 2023 HDR Engineering calculations and a later Morris & Merrill preliminary engineering report used different maximum-flow baselines: a June 2022 flood peak (about 630,000 gallons per day) was used in some models, while excluding that anomalous event reduces the modeled maximum flow to roughly 570,000 gpd. He said the bioreactor expansion raised facility capacity in models to about 710,000 gpd and that, depending on the approach, remaining population-equivalent capacity estimates range from approximately 816 people to as many as 1,894. "Today, I do not have a number for you, but, we'll give you the scale of where those numbers are," the City Manager said during the presentation.
Staff listed near-term and reserved allocations that consume much of the available capacity: approved preliminary plats and reserve allocations (examples include 12 townhomes on 4th Avenue, 20 units on Meadowlake Boulevard, Guarner Heights, Tamarack Meadows) and large proposed projects such as Teekettle Heights (estimated in the transcript at roughly 844 people) and River Highlands (about 175 single-family units). Manager warned that recent development applications submitted over the prior three months would challenge available capacity by more than 2,100 people if all were built as proposed.
Meadowlake Water & Sewer District was a focal point: staff reported the district has allocated capacity equal to or exceeding its contract (80,000 gpd) even though current average usage is nearer 40,000 gpd, and staff documented severe inflow and infiltration (I&I) spikes (for example, Meadowlakes I&I reached about 78,000 gpd on one high day). The City Manager said that corrective actions and contract negotiations with Meadowlake will be necessary before reallocating capacity tied to that district.
Councilors and planning commissioners discussed policy options for managing demand: pursuing a moratorium on development (described as a potential but generally undesired option), prioritizing housing types consistent with the city's housing study (favoring housing over hotels in many councillors' views), creating a defensible allocation rubric, and applying the 2023 DEQ "development plan" option to phase large projects so capacity can be tied to staging milestones rather than requiring full build‑out capacity up front. Sam, an engineer with planning-commission ties, said phased development could allow early phases to proceed while later phases upgrade conveyance infrastructure.
Council members pressed staff for clearer, written guidance and a timeline. One councilor asked staff to prepare a concise written package so councilors can study the specific numbers and the decision points before the next meeting. The City Manager said staff will continue coordinating with HDR, Morris & Merrill, and DEQ, and that fall 2026 facility modeling (after one year of bioreactor operation) will provide more definitive capacity numbers.
Next steps noted by staff include: (1) completing the planned capacity modeling after a full year of bioreactor operation; (2) developing a wastewater allocation policy and a rubric to prioritize near‑term applications; (3) pursuing targeted I&I mitigation projects (especially in Meadowlake) and (4) exploring a DEQ development-plan submission to allow phased approvals tied to infrastructure upgrades. The manager emphasized the technical decision on the allocation number must come from engineers in coordination with DEQ; policy choices (which projects and housing types to prioritize) are for the council.
The council did not take formal action on allocations at the meeting; members asked staff to return with written material and recommended priorities and to continue urgent coordination with the engineers and DEQ.
