Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rawlins credits county coordination for quick water-crisis response; city seeks $1.6M for critical pipe repairs
Summary
After a recent critical water incident, Carbon County nd Rawlins managers described a rapid C4 emergency activation and said the city will seek targeted funding (staff estimate ~$1.6 million) to fix air release valves, blow-offs and cathodic protection and to restart a pretreatment plant as a backup.
Rawlins city and county officials detailed how coordinated emergency operations and recent training helped contain a critical water incident, and outlined near-term infrastructure priorities and funding needs.
Carbon County Emergency Manager Lenny Lehman described activating the C4 emergency coordination center after early-morning reports of a water problem and credited quick county and city cooperation for an effective response. Lehman said grants and donations totaling about $136,000 helped equip the C4 and enable training that proved useful during the event. "Out of that adversity, through grants and donations, roughly totaling about $136,000...I was able to equip the C4," he said. Council members praised the multi-agency response and volunteers who supported operations.
City staff reported the spring pipeline that supplies the town remains the system—ritical asset and listed three priorities for work: replacing air release valves, repairing blow-offs, and restoring cathodic protection. Staff said they initially requested just over $6 million in impact-assistance funding, but were asked by funders to prioritize essentials; they identified an essential subset of roughly $1.6 million that would allow them to complete air-release, blow-off and cathodic-protection work and reduce the chance of a repeat crisis.
Staff also urged restarting the pretreatment plant (estimated $100,000 nd up) so the city could pump river water, treat it and maintain supply while sections of the spring line are out of service for repairs. Utilities staff recommended issuing RFPs to firms that could start the pretreatment system and train city operators, and asked that plans include an operations-and-maintenance manual that documents locations and testing schedules for valves and cathodic protection.
City manager Sean Metcalfe and utilities staff said the proposals are contingent on securing grants or impact-assistance funds; council approved staff direction to pursue RFPs and gather more precise cost estimates. Staff cautioned that some concrete and engineering work will be necessary for the pipeline repairs and that a backup water source is essential before taking extended sections offline.
