OUR MISSION
The Mount Werner Water District is committed to providing our customers the highest quality and most cost-effective water and wastewater services in compliance with all applicable Federal and State laws and regulations while preserving public health, protecting the environment, and ensuring the utmost customer satisfaction. We are equally dedicated to maintaining a work environment where every employee is recognized as a fundamental part of the organization, whereby encouraging teamwork and individual contribution.
RECENT NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTICE - Effective 5:00 pm, March 17th, 2020
In response to the communicable nature of the Covid-19 Virus, Mt. Werner Water District will close public access to District facilities until further notice. However, District staff will continue to work effectively from our office on a daily basis and will be offering regular services. All staff can be contacted via the main business line at 970-879-2424 or e-mail directly.
The District is implementing measures to protect our employees and citizens that will allow our operations to continue functioning while slowing the spread of the virus.
These steps include:
• Using remote and virtual methods to meet with members of the public and vendors, where possible.
• Postponing all tours of Mt. Werner Water facilities indefinitely.
• Increasing the cleaning and disinfecting of work areas.
• Developing procedures for personnel who are working in offices, common areas and in the field to maintain safe distances.
The District is working hard to maintain service levels and asks customers for patience as we adjust to quickly changing circumstances.
THANK YOU
2020 Census
There’s still time to shape the future of our community. Complete
the #2020Census now online, by phone, or by mail. Visit 2020Census.gov
The deadline to respond has been extended to October 31, 2020.
2019 Recap and 2020 Capital Projects
The District completed several Capital Projects last Fall:
• Sewer Interceptor enlargement: Native Construction completed Phase 1 of the 3-phase (s) project this fall. We are now focused on design, engineering, planning and permitting for Phase 2 (construction in 2021) and Phase 3 (construction in 2022). Once phase 3 is complete, the District’s main line will be enlarged and improved to handle current and future sewer flows.
• New Water Main: this past fall, in cooperation with our partners at the Yampa Valley Housing Authority and Native Construction, a new water main was installed from Walgreens, through the new Housing Authority Project (Alpenglow Village), under Fish Creek and tied into the existing water main east of the Chamber building. This is a critical connection for the District and City and will provide additional reliability and redundancy to both District and City customers.
The District is planning to complete two main projects in 2020:
• Wastewater Monitoring Manhole: this summer, the District is planning to install one additional monitoring manhole. It will be located near Strings and the Wildhorse Market Place. This infrastructure allows us to monitor sewer flows year-round.
• New Raw Water Infiltration Gallery (Yampa Meadows Parcel): Baseline Engineering, Inc. continues to finalize the design and engineering of the proposed new raw water infiltration gallery. We have submitted the Design Report to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) as their approval is required prior to construction. We anticipate receiving CDPHE approval in late May or early June. During this same time frame, we will advertise the project for bid and evaluate proposals received. The new gallery, to be sited south of the existing Yampa Wells Treatment Plant (YWTP), is scheduled to be constructed in 2020 (to start late this summer and end before the first snowfall) and will provide additional raw water capacity to the recently upgraded YWTP. The new raw water supply will add valuable redundancy for District and City of SB customers.
Water Rights Court Decree: we are also on track to obtain a Colorado Water Court Decree in response to the District’s Water Rights and Augmentation Plan application submitted about 2 years ago. A Colorado water court decree is necessary for the new Raw Water Infiltration Gallery construction to move forward. Target date to have this in hand is early summer.
The Fish Creek Critical Community Watershed Wildfire Protection Plan
Please join Mt. Werner Water and the City of Steamboat Springs for a public overview of the Fish Creek Critical Community Watershed Wildfire Protection Plan (CWP2). This plan takes a comprehensive look at what we can do before, during and after a wildfire event to protect our critical drinking water supply.
The project team would like to connect with Steamboat residents and those who live, work, and play within the basin. Please plan on attending our Public Meeting from 6:00-7:00 PM on Thursday, June 13th at the Steamboat Springs Community Center, where we will present analysis results and solicit input from local land and water users, as we finalize the plan.
For more information, please click on the following link… https://www.steamboatsprings.net/928/Fish-Creek-Watershed-Wildfire-Protection
Mount Werner Water Board Meeting
The next regular Mount Werner Water Board meeting will be held 8:00 AM on Friday, October 9, 2020 at the District Office, 3310 Clear Water Trail, Steamboat Springs, CO.
Community Water Conservation/Efficiency Plan
In partnership with the City, the 2020 update to the 2011 community-wide Water Conservation was approved by the Board of Directors at their March 20th Meeting. Click here to view the Conservation Plan and Watering Schedule. The plan explored 5 main objectives with focus on developing new activities and steps within the Plan update that will help the City and Mt. Werner Water to achieve lasting, long term improvement in water efficiency and conservation; reduce overall per capita water demands (or water use per eqr). In response to this focus, the Board approved by Resolution the following permanent irrigation watering schedule.
• No outdoor watering between 10AM – 6PM. Exceptions to this may be made for District and City of Steamboat Springs approved management purposes.
• Odd and even watering schedule provided in Table below. The watering schedule is based on the last number of customers’ street addresses.
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
Even Odd Even No Watering Odd Even Odd
The odd/even day watering schedule will start this summer and continue forward into the future regardless of drought conditions.
Backflow Prevention/Cross Connection Control Program (BPCCC)
As a municipal water provider, the District must abide by Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. The Colorado Primary Drinking Water Regulations, 5 CCR 1002-11 (Regulation 11), Section 11.39 requires that water suppliers that own and/or operate public water systems protect the drinking water from potential contamination through cross connections. A cross connection can happen when the drinking water system is connected to uses that make the water no longer potable. If a cross-connection has been made to a hazardous substance or non-potable water, this substance or water has the potential to flow back into the distribution system and create a public health risk. The regulation only applies to commercial or non-single-family-residences and we have asked these customers to assist the District in two areas:
1.Identify potential cross-connections within properties where backflow could occur. We are compiling the results from that survey.
2.If a backflow assembly exists at your service address, be sure that it is tested annually by a certified technician and those results are sent to the District.
Need help? Whether you have identified a cross-connection on your property or you don’t know where to start looking for one, we can help so please call us!
Master Planning Projects for 2020
o Facilities Master Plan (Treatment Plants) – in partnership with the City of SBS, Carollo Engineers, Inc. was hired to perform a Facilities Master Plan for the Treatment Plants. The Plan includes 4 main components; planning, onsite evaluation (completed in February 2020), analysis and project (s) recommendation with cost estimates and the final report. A draft of the final report will be reviewed by the Board by mid-to-late summer.
o Solar Arrays Feasibility Study – the District has partnered with the City of SBS and both Routt and Moffat County to carry out planning for solar arrays at large energy using facilities (the Fish Creek Treatment Plant). The goal is to determine the feasibility and desired sizing of solar arrays at each site based on the stated goal (peak power shaving, energy replacement, resiliency and/or net metering). We received a grant from DOLA (via their Renewable and Clean Energy Challenge) and recently hired McKinstry, Inc. for the project.