Water quality moves to forefront for town
Town requests proposals for technical review of wastewater plant and stormwater plan
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Town of Jackson is taking the first steps toward addressing an area of primary concern—water quality—by seeking qualified outside experts to examine wastewater and treatment from top to bottom.
Identified as one of six priorities by the town council at its annual retreat this year, water quality moves to the forefront with two requests for proposals issued by the public works department recently.
The first request is a request for qualifications for a technical review of the town’s wastewater treatment plant, which will look at historical data, the current state of the plant, and recommend potential improvements.
Currently, the plant exceeds the standards issued by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. Still, in working with partners and listening to constituents, the town is well aware that standards must be above and beyond DEQ’s requirements as the plant’s treated water ends up in the prized Snake River.
Representatives from American Rivers, Ducks Unlimited, Protect Our Water JH, Snake River Fund, Teton Conservation District, and Wyoming Game and Fish will select the consultant to perform the technical review in August. The review will take place between August and October, and then there will be an open house to inform the community about findings and proposed improvements. The consultant will also provide a final report with analysis, recommendations, and cost estimates.
The second request is a request for proposals for the town’s stormwater management program. This project seeks a consultant or team to develop a stormwater master plan for the town highlighting the current state, best practices, and recommendations for improvement related to stormwater, rainfall, runoff, and reduction of pollutants.
Work will build from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) control measures for municipal storm sewer systems and will start with evaluation of the town’s facilities and operations, existing water quality monitoring programs, and a comparison of our systems, programs, and local regulations to those in similar communities.
The consultant will also be tasked with preparing stormwater manuals, evaluating funding options, and creating a community engagement strategy. The contract for this project will be awarded in August, review of existing data will take place from this November through December 2022. Though dates may change, the current projection is for implementation of the plan by August of 2023.
Both projects have pre-proposal meetings scheduled for interested parties: July 13 for the wastewater review and July 14 for the stormwater program.
