The City of Rawlins has received an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Grant for Local Governments from the Wyoming State & Investment Board (SLIB) for $917,548.00 for the replacement of 15 spring and junction boxes in the Sage Creek Basin. These boxes will allow us to capture more water in the springs for transport, treatment, and use in the City of Rawlins and Town of Sinclair.
Some of the spring boxes are over 100 years old and have become less effective at groundwater collection over time due to particle migration and partial clogging of collection laterals. Additionally, the existing system is not big enough to capture water supplies at a rate equal to the spring’s water rights. The City of Rawlins contributed an additional $717,000 from Chokecherry Impact Assistance Funds and $238,000 from a General Fund Loan to complete the replacement.
This is the second large project the City of Rawlins is executing in the Sage Creek Basin. Our first project was the replacement of 10,000 feet of woodstave pipeline in the Sage Creek Basin, which was completed in Summer 2022 with $812,000 from a General Fund Loan and $1,317,000 from Chokecherry Impact Assistance Funds. The City of Rawlins is also currently undertaking the following Water System Projects:
- Pretreatment Plant Start-Up which will allow us to effectively treat reservoir and river water; funded through $535,000 of Chokecherry Impact Assistance Funds and operations/additional funding from the Water Enterprise Fund
- Design and Installation of a new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) which monitors and automates various components of the water treatment service system; funded through $200,000 of Chokecherry Impact Assistance Funds and $962.951.14 from a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
- Design and installation of cathodic protection on our main 32-mile transmission line from the springs to the treatment plant; funded through a $675,000 Mineral Royalties Grant from the State Land and Investment Board (SLIB MRG)
- Replace the Air/Vac valves, blow-off valves, and portions of our main 32-mile steel transmission line from the Sage Creek Basin Springs to the City of Rawlins Treatment Plant; funded through a $998,400.00 CDBG grant and SLIB MRG funds not used for cathodic protection
For more information regarding our water system, current projects, and more, please visit www.rawlinswy.org/water. Interested in receiving news from the City? Sign up for news via email or text at www.rawlinswy.gov/notifyme under “City of Rawlins News.” For more information, please contact Mira Miller, City of Rawlins Community Relations/PIO, at 307-328-4500 ext. 1022.
Image: City staff tour Sage Creek Basin in October 2021, seen here standing near the top of a spring box