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City to seek joint Level 2 study for Lake DeSmet as long-term supply; joint application with SAWS planned
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Summary
Utilities director Dan Roberts told the council the city plans to submit a joint Level 2 Water Development Commission application with the SAWS Joint Powers Board to study Lake DeSmet as a potential long-term water supply; the application deadline is March 1 and, if approved, the study would proceed into consultant selection and a multi-year planning effort.
Utilities director Dan Roberts walked council members through the Wyoming Water Development Commission planning process and a proposed joint Level 2 study to further evaluate Lake DeSmet as a potential long-term water source for Sheridan and neighboring stakeholders.
Roberts explained Level 1 studies are masterplanning steps and Level 2 studies focus in detail on a specific recommendation from a Level 1 plan. He said Level 2 planning applications are funded by the WWDC (planning studies are 100% WWDC-funded if approved), while later Level 3 construction funding typically comes with a 50% WWDC contribution and a sponsor match for the remainder.
“We conducted ours in 2019,” Roberts said of the city’s master plan, and he said a 2023 Level 2 application did not proceed because the scope was viewed as too narrowly focused on Sheridan and SAWS. Roberts said the city later contracted a consultant team (EA Associates with Dow and others) to design a broader stakeholder process and scope to address wider interests around Lake DeSmet; he said the Water Development director and staff have been involved in the scope development and recommended a joint application.
Roberts said the next step is presentation of a resolution to authorize a joint application with the SAWS Joint Powers Board and, if council approves, staff would submit by the March 1 application deadline. He estimated the planning study could run roughly two years from consultant selection and noted that if projects are identified the Water Development Commission could later consider Level 3 construction funding.
Council members confirmed SAWS is aware of the proposal. Roberts said some stakeholders also expressed recreational and drawdown concerns, and that the study scope aims to evaluate operational costs, governance models, and the financial viability of any recommended project.
If authorized by council, staff said the application would be considered by WWDC around May, with consultant contracting potentially in June and work beginning shortly thereafter.
