SIRWA still waiting for treatment plant’s approval

Hurry up and wait.

That’s the sentiment from Southern Iowa Rural Water Association General Manager Dan McIntosh about proceeding with plans to build a water treatment plant and other accessories.

Wednesday was a scheduled public hearing at their office west of Creston for the public to submit their opinions about the proposed work originally estimated at $54 million. There were no formal comments made to the SIRWA board. But SIRWA also didn’t gain any ground in their plans as the Iowa Department of Natural Resources still has not approved the treatment plans.

McIntosh said the board had also opened submitted bids for the project as scheduled, but since the DNR is still reviewing the proposal, no bids were approved. McIntosh said the bids were more than what was budgeted for the work. McIntosh said the lowest bid was about $70 million, more than what was budgeted. To respect the integrity of the bidding process since a bid was not formally approved, the Creston News Advertiser will not name bidding companies.

“It does not change anything,” McIntosh said about the delay in plan approvals and higher cost to build. “We are in hurry up and wait.”

McIntosh said the DNR first need to approve the plans which then can make SIRWA finalize its loan agreements with Rural Development.

“Then we will approve a bid,” he said.

Because of the increase in costs, McIntosh expects SIRWA to apply for additional loans from Rural Development.

McIntosh said it’s still possible for dirt work to begin on the project before the end of the year.

Other work includes water pipe improvements and a water tower. The water treatment plant will have a a capacity of 6 million gallons a day. New pipe will be a combined total of more than 9 miles. The water tower will hold at least 1 million gallons.

SIRWA purchases water from the city of Creston’s water treatment plant at Twelve Mile Lake. McIntosh said about 85% of SIRWA’s water is from Creston Water Works. Creston Water Works owns the water rights to Twelve Mile Lake while SIRWA owns the rights to Three Mile Lake.

The treatment plant was pursued after SIRWA’s growth using Creston City Water Works facilities. Creston and SIRWA had contractual agreements SIRWA using Creston’s water treatment plant at 12 Mile Lake and paying a percent of how much water was used. SIRWA had more customer growth than Creston’s. Both entities agreed SIRWA would pay for a percentage of maintenance of plant use but as SIRWA’s customers grew in numbers, so did its plant expenses.

SIRWA was paying about 75% of the plant operation, which created the idea to have its own water treatment plant. McIntosh said there are discussions for SIRWA and the Creston Water Works to adjust their contracts upon completion and use of SIRWA’s water plant, which is expected in 2023. Additional agreements are being discussed to share water sources and each entity supply each other finished water during emergencies or maintenance.