Rural water issues discussed at meeting
The Wyoming Association of Irrigation Districts held its second annual meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Casper on Nov. 11-12.
The meeting agenda featured a lineup of esteemed speakers, educational breakout sessions, several networking opportunities and the election of new officers.
On the second day of the program, Wyoming Association of Rural Water Systems (WARWS) Executive Director Mark Pepper offered an update from the association and outlined several top-priority issues regarding rural surface and groundwater.
Surface water issues
Pepper started by highlighting three surface water issues WARWS has recently been focused on.
“The biggest one we have in the municipal world is per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – the forever chemicals,” he stated. “Unfortunately, we have been battling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a number of years, and they have now issued a new maximum containment level (MCL) regulation for PFAS and various compounds.”
On April 10, EPA issued the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which set an MCL of four parts per trillion (ppt) for six PFAS compounds in drinking water.
Pepper noted four ppt is a far cry from the prior 70 ppt set by the Public Health Advisories, meaning anyone who previously tested negative will likely now be over MCL.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is in the process of testing wells around the state, although Pepper pointed out testing is extremely expensive, at a cost of roughly $1,500 per water source, not to mention the cost of special equipment, collection methods and transportation needed for testing.
Pepper stated, “PFAS is in surface water. You are all pulling surface water out to irrigate crops, which are then sold and consumed. It’s entirely possible they are going to extend this to irrigation at some point.”
The second surface water issue WARWS has its eye on is microplastics, which Pepper predicts to become a huge issue in coming years.
He shared the story of an eighth grader who analyzed microplastic content in samples from Fontenelle Reservoir for his middle school science project.
“He found significant microplastics at 20 feet below the surface, so it’s entirely possible all of those microplastics are also in your irrigation water and now on your fields. This could become a big issue down the road,” Pepper reiterated.
Third, Pepper noted the ongoing issue of surface water rights will likely continue into the future.
“Municipalities need more water, so they are looking to secure additional water rights, which is going to be an ongoing issue,” he said.
Groundwater issues
When it comes to groundwater wells, Pepper said one of the biggest issues that may arise is national policy regarding lead lines.
“Getting the lead out of municipal water sources is necessary,” he stated, further noting the Biden administration recently issued a grant of $1.5 trillion to identify and replace lead pipes in water systems across the U.S. Wyoming received $28 million.
“But I think we are going to need more than that,” he said. “For example, I believe Cheyenne ended up with about 600 pipes they have to replace, but at $20,000 a pop, it adds up. If you extrapolate this, it becomes a huge problem, especially in our smaller communities, so we are working heavily on that.”
Additionally, Pepper noted WARWS conducts a lot of water rate analyses to measure the difference between the water a municipality produces and the water they sell – water loss.
“In a well-run, well-maintained, efficient water system, this number should be under 10 percent,” Pepper explained. “However, for a lot of places in Wyoming, it is at 75 percent, and they are still drilling more wells. We would rather they fix leaks first, and then they probably wouldn’t have to drill more wells.”
He added, “Another thing we have found is, in some cases, the municipalities are pumping more water than their permits allow. Part of this is because of metering and part of it is due to a lack of oversight.”
Like surface water, another of Pepper’s concerns for groundwater is water rights, especially with ongoing drought conditions and a decline in water resources.
He shared, in January, the Nevada Supreme Court issued a ruling on the Sullivan vs. Lincoln County Water District case, which gives the state engineer authority to conjunctively manage surface and groundwater sources.
This means water rights of ag producers in the area no longer matter, and the state engineer may show up at any time to take control of their water rights, Pepper noted.
He added, “I can see this happening with both municipal well permits and irrigation well permits. This could become a huge issue for Wyoming if we continue down the road with ongoing drought conditions, causing us to fall farther behind in our water resources.”
Pepper noted PFAS is also a continuous issue for groundwater as well.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
