Meeting Slated for Monday, February 26 at Jerauld County Courthouse Community Room
The City of Wessington Springs announced it will hold an informational meeting for the public regarding the future water source for the municipality. The meeting will be held Monday, February 26 in the Jerauld County Courthouse Community Room at 6 p.m.
The city approved a water study in October, hiring SPN & Associates Civil Engineers and Land Surveyors to conduct it. Camden Hofer alongside Jeff McCormick, both of SPN & Associates presented study findings to city council on Monday, December 4, 2023.
“What we’re seeing is a plant that started in 1986 with very few updates made to it. The city can be commended for keeping an old plant like this in operation. It has a typical design life of maybe 20 years so the plant is beyond its useful life expectancy.”
The presentation covered multiple areas: an evaluation of the existing system including water source, treatment, storage, distribution and meters; emergency improvements; proposed improvements including complete plant renovation as well as the viability of hooking into Mid-Dakota Rural Water.
Since the meeting, the council has been exploring long term water system improvement options, with the estimated costs of long term water system representing “once in a lifetime” price tags that will require a significant amount of grant funding through Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) paired with other sources. With a rural water connection estimated at just under $10 million and a new municipal water treatment plant estimated at just over $11 million, the council has hefty decisions to make.
In addition to city leadership, representatives from Planning and Development District III, Mid-Dakota Rural Water and SPN & Associates will be at the meeting.
