HARTINGTON — A proposal to sell water from the City of Hartington to the Cedar-Know Rural Water Project would be a win-win for everyone involved, Hartington Mayor Mark Becker said.
Becker addressed the Lewis & Clark Natural Resources District Board of Directors on March 22 with a proposal to sell water from Hartington’s four city wells to the NRD for the rural drinking water system it oversees.
Annette Sudbeck, the district’s general manager, noted the city has asked for the Cedar-Knox advisory committee to make a recommendation to the NRD board to consider hooking the rural water project up to Hartington’s drinking water system.
Cedar-Knox, which has been searching for a new water source for several years, serves more than 900 rural connections – about 7,000 people – across parts of northern Cedar and Knox counties, including several sanitary improvement districts, recreational areas and businesses along Lewis and Clark Lake and the Missouri River, along with the communities of Crofton, Fordyce, St. Helena and Obert.
The rural water project currently pulls water from the river in the Devils Nest region of Knox County. Silt and the rural water system’s age – it dates back to the early 1980s – have become major issues, however, and Cedar-Knox will need to find another water source sooner than later.
The NRD is currently considering a proposal that would connect the rural water project to the City of Yankton, S.D., drinking water system.
“The Cedar-Knox Rural Water Project also has on the table – reviewing the contract with the City of Yankton,” Sudbeck said.
She noted the NRD board ratified the contract with Yankton “as to form” – meaning both sides agree the contract is where they want it to be at if they were to officially agree to it – at its March meeting.
The Yankton proposal would require boring and installing pipes – and other infrastructure work – under the river to bring water back to Nebraska from that city’s water treatment plant.
The cost to connect Cedar-Knox to Yankton’s system has been estimated at $29 million-$30 million, mainly due to the infrastructure that would need to be installed.
By connecting to Hartington’s system instead of Yankton’s, the rural water project would get the infrastructure and other work done at a huge savings, Becker said.
The cost of providing water to Cedar- Knox customers would also be less, he said, which could enable the rural water project to bring in even more customers.
Hooking Cedar-Knox up to Hartington’s system also would provide extra revenue for the city.
“This could be a very nice revenue stream for the City of Hartington. This project would bring in approximately half a million dollars a year to our operating budget,” Becker said.
Becker said he met with a local contractor and Hartington Utility Supt. Corey Kramer to put together some figures to determine what it would cost if the rural water project connected to Hartington’s system instead of burrowing under the river to connect up with Yankton’s.
Regardless of where Cedar-Knox decides to pull its drinking water from, it will need to spend $10 million to build the infrastructure, Becker said.
If the rural water project decides to get water from Yankton, it would need to spend another $18 million on that infrastructure.
Connecting to Hartington’s system would provide fresh, clean drinking water to Cedar- Knox at a much lower cost, Becker said.
“It would save the (NRD) at least $10 million if they were to connect to Hartington’s wells instead,” he said.
Hartington has good, pure water and plenty of it, Becker said.
The city currently has four wells, and has the capacity to add more if connecting the rural water project to Hartington’s system would require them, he said.
Because of the reduced expenses to connect to the city, that option would allow Cedar-Knox to sell water at a cheaper rate to its customers, Becker said.
Although there would be a huge cost savings by going with Hartington instead of Yankton, Becker said NRD board members were concerned about hooking up to a system that does not provide treated water.
“There was some discussion about nitrates at the meeting,” Becker said.
Currently, the state of Nebraska mandates that nitrate levels cannot exceed 10 parts per million.
Hartington’s drinking water is nowhere near that level, Becker said.
“For the last 10 years, three of our four wells have been running at two (parts per million) or a little over and the refurbished well in that five to six (parts per million) range and is doing even better now and is well below the nitrate intervention point,” Becker said.
Becker told NRD board members if the clean water regulations were to get even more strict in the future, the city’s water would still meet those regulations.
“If the regs would go to 20 percent more, or 50 percent more, we are still well under the nitrate limit,” he said. “Our nitrate levels have not moved at all in the last 10 years, and in my opinion, they won’t move because we farm better now than we did 10 years ago.”
Sudbeck noted the Hartington proposal would require engineering work.
“It’s not an option that has been engineered for many reasons – water quality being one of them,” Sudbeck said. “It’s not the same as what we deliver now.”
The city not only has the ability to provide plenty of clean water, it can do so at a much lower cost than what Cedar-Knox currently sells its water at, Becker said.
After meeting with the NRD board, Becker was made aware of two potential obstacles that could keep the rural water project from hooking up to Hartington’s system.
Becker said NRD board members fear they could lose a $7 million state grant if they change course away from the Yankton proposal right now.
Becker said he has spoken with Nebraska Sen. Barry DeKay, who represents District 40, and his staff about this concern. They are working to try to get some clarity on this issue.
“They are trying to go full steam ahead with the Yankton project, but the Hartington project is much cheaper, and if we can get the funding from the state, that could be used on the Hartington project and would save them about $10 million,” Becker said.
Becker said he is also planning to speak with other state officials to make sure those funds could be used for the Hartington proposal.
“If those funds could be used for our project, then we’re back in the ball game,” he said.
The other obstacle that must be overcome is the NRD board’s concern about nitrates.
Cedar-Knox drinking water is currently being run through a water treatment plant, and the Yankton plan would also put the water through a water treatment plant.
However, the Hartington proposal does not utilize a water treatment plant.
“We have good water here,” Becker said. “We don’t need to run it through a treatment plant.”
The Hartington plan would also be a faster option as it wouldn’t take as long to build the infrastructure, Becker said.
“They have a real timeline. Their current system will be inoperable in a few years, and they’ll have to move to a new system,” he said. “The Hartington option gets this accomplished sooner.”
Sudbeck thanked the City of Hartington for its proposal.
“We definitely appreciate the City of Hartington being willing to serve,” Sudbeck said. “We truly appreciate the City of Hartington making an offer and themselves available.”
However, if the NRD pursued the Hartington plan, “it would be going back to the drawing board on many levels,” she said.
“The state doesn’t have it as an option either,” Sudbeck said of the Hartington proposal as a possible solution for Cedar-Knox. “There are things that would translate, of course, but not all of it will.
“We don’t have any engineering costs at all on Hartington,” she said. “They may provide some, but they haven’t been engineered by the same engineer that we utilize.”
The Cedar-Knox advisory committee is set to meet at 10 a.m. April 11 at the NRD office.
Committee members will consider whether to recommend to the NRD board that it should enter into an official agreement with the City of Yankton to connect to its drinking water system. They also will hear from the City of Hartington about its proposal.
NRD board members are scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. April 18. Its members will consider making a decision on whatever the Cedar-Knox advisory committee recommends on the finalized Yankton contract.
