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Feasibility study: Sinclair refinery could buy treated Rollins water after $11M of upgrades, consultants say
Summary
Sunrise Engineering presented a feasibility study finding Rollins has surplus water rights and could sell treated water to the Sinclair refinery if roughly $11 million in infrastructure upgrades are completed; Sinclair indicated willingness to help fund pipeline work and a sale could yield about $1 million/year in water revenue, the consultant said.
Sunrise Engineering presented an independent feasibility study to Rawlins City Council on Dec. 7 exploring whether the city could sell treated potable water to the nearby Sinclair refinery. The firm concluded Rollins has unused water‑right capacity and that, with infrastructure upgrades estimated at about $11 million, the city could supply the refinery while preserving local potable supply and future growth.
Consultant CJ Walker said Sinclair executives are interested in purchasing treated water (not water rights) mainly for boiler‑house use and have shown a willingness to help pay for the physical pipeline; Sunrise estimated pipeline and direct water‑sale infrastructure at roughly $6 million and total necessary system upgrades at about $11 million. Walker estimated the city could receive roughly $1 million per year in water‑sales revenue under the modeled scenario.
Council discussed operational details—allocation rules during drought, storage and redundancy, liability and operation/maintenance responsibilities—and asked staff and legal counsel to continue due diligence. City staff said they were repairing spring lines and pipeline segments in the near term (a separate project to install 18‑inch PVC spring collection pipe was underway to improve spring delivery and reservoir fill rates) and that the refinery relationship could accelerate upgrades without the city issuing major bonds. No formal agreement was ratified that night; council asked staff to continue exploring potential agreements and to prepare follow‑up information for future action.
