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Feasibility study: Rawlins could sell treated water to Sinclair refinery if $11M in upgrades are made, consultant says
Summary
Sunrise Engineering presented a water‑portfolio feasibility study showing Rollins has unused water rights and could produce roughly $1M/year in treated‑water sales to the Sinclair refinery but would need about $11 million in infrastructure upgrades; Sinclair indicated willingness to help pay for the pipeline and some upgrades.
Consultants told the Rawlins City Council on Dec. 7 that the city has unused water rights and that, with upgrades, it could sell treated potable water to the Sinclair refinery without transferring water rights. Sunrise Engineering principal CJ Walker said the refinery wants treated water for boiler‑house operations and has indicated it would pay for the physical pipeline between Rollins and the refinery.
"The Sinclair refinery is not interested in water rights. They're interested in purchasing treated water from the city of Rollins," Walker said, adding that the engineering estimate for comprehensive city upgrades is about $11,000,000 with roughly $6.2 million attributable to rehabilitation of the distribution system south of town.
Walker said the city could receive an estimated $1,000,000 a year in water‑sales revenue under the modeled agreement and that Sinclair had indicated willingness to fund the pipeline portion of the work (estimated at about $6,000,000). The study emphasized that the transaction would preserve the city's underlying water rights while treating and selling potable water.
Council members probed drought and allocation risks. Walker said storage, smart timing of river withdrawals and contract provisions (including refinery‑held on‑site storage) could mitigate allocation‑year risks; he estimated Rollins could support substantially more population in most scenarios but noted a theoretical allocation call in late winter/spring could impose restrictions that must be addressed contractually.
Council direction: staff and the consultants recommended continuing discussions with refinery leaders, engaging water counsel, and sequencing near‑term infrastructure steps (for example, a cemetery raw‑water pipeline and repairs to the southern distribution system). Council instructed staff to bring back recommended next steps, legal options and potential financing scenarios for future council consideration.
"We have a partner who...is interested in working out some way to make this a mutually beneficial agreement where those infrastructure improvements can be made," a city official said during the meeting.
