From The Fort Morgan Times (Jesse Chaney):
The study would help the cities determine whether to send effluent from their wastewater treatment facilities through a mixer before releasing it into the South Platte River. The mixer would disperse the water, which could prevent the effluent from releasing a potentially harmful plume into the river, said Brush Clerk Cathy Smith. The city of Brush has already budgeted for its portion of the study, she said.
More Coyote Gulch wastewater coverage here.
From the Steamboat Pilot & Today (Blythe Terrell):
According to numbers from 2005 through 2008, the town is producing more water than residents are paying for. Hayden Town Council members discussed the problem at their meeting Thursday, as well as issues related to money shortfalls in the town’s sewer and water fund. They couldn’t come up with clear answers…
Scott Price, the town’s water/wastewater plant operator, provided graphs and figures relating to the possible water losses at the Thursday meeting. His research showed that there doesn’t appear to be a seasonal variation or a change in loss between high- and low-use periods. “There’s a lot of variables in there, and that’s kind of why we’ve got to look at the averages,” Price said. The typical municipality experiences 16 percent water loss, Price said, suggesting that Hayden shoot for 10 percent…
Hayden is trying to refinance its debt on the water plant it built in 2003-04. So far, Martin and his staff members haven’t negotiated a better deal on interest rates. If they can’t do so, the town might take out a line of credit to pay bills and improve cash flow. That would be a temporary solution, Martin said. “It’s actually not a bad situation; it’s just like any business trying to figure out how you get through a period of time,” he said. “Because the water fund is a business, and right now it’s not making enough money to cover its bills, and that’s not a good thing.” Hayden town officials are working with bankers to figure out the next step for the enterprise fund. Martin said Town Council members probably would consider rate increases in coming months. The town can specify whose rates increase, leaving out senior citizens, for example, he said.
More Coyote Gulch infrastructure coverage here.