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4.27.02 If water plant wins federal OK, M.U.D. expects conditions, too Should Metropolitan Utilities District receive permission to build a new water plant along the Platte River, the federal government probably will attach conditions to the project, the M.U.D. board was told Friday. And because the plant is at least five years from coming on line, M.U.D. is revising its conservation plan in case additional steps need to be taken. The new plant is expected to cause water levels near the Saunders-Douglas County lines to drop, which could affect irrigation and some wells and ponds. To better track groundwater levels, M.U.D. could be asked to install more monitoring wells than originally planned, M.U.D. General Manager Tom Wurtz said. Other conditions could be attached to the operation or construction of the plant. Wurtz said the added cost of the conditions probably would be nominal. "We're fully prepared to meet these," he said. The new plant and accompanying wells will have the capacity to pump 100 million gallons of water a day, although about half that will be needed on average. Wurtz told the board that he was pleased that the Army Corps of Engineers' environmental assessment concludes the metro area needs additional water and that the new water should come largely from a source other than the Missouri River. Most of M.U.D.'s water currently comes from the Missouri. "Reliability is the thing that sells this for me, lock, stock and barrel," M.U.D. board member Mark Doyle said. M.U.D. already has raised rates to help pay for the $295 million plant. So far, it has about 40 percent, $118 million, set aside. At some point, Wurtz said, the utility will need to issue bonds. Should M.U.D. receive approval from the corps this fall, the plant could be in operation in 2007. With water supplies already tight during summer dry spells, M.U.D. is re-examining its water conservation policy. The policy also is being revised to bring it in line with the assumptions used in designing the new plant. The size of the new plant is based on metro-area water users trimming peak demand by 10 percent. The current target is 5 percent. Board members and M.U.D. officials said the community demonstrated during last summer's shortage that it has the ability to "self-police" water usage. M.U.D. officials plan to add a new Stage II Alert, which would go into effect if the current, voluntary odd-even outdoor watering schedule isn't enough. Under the new alert, M.U.D. would ask all customers to voluntarily forgo outdoor watering for the same two days a week so that reservoirs could refill. The utility also is drawing up plans to enforce mandatory conservation measures if needed. To increase water supplies, M.U.D. is renovating the wells at its existing Platte River plant. By 2005, Wurtz estimates, the wells will be renovated and pumping at full capacity. Right now, the wells can draw about 55 million gallons a day, about 5 million gallons shy of capacity. |
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