City looks for water bond issue in 2018

A city committee is trying to figure out what projects Columbia Water & Light should target in the future.

The Integrated Water Planning Committee met Tuesday to go over consulting firm Black & Veatch’s analysis of the city’s water plant, and options to expand it. The plant, located near the town of McBaine on Route K, has a “reliable capacity” of 24 million gallons per day. At its peak performance, the plant delivers 32 million gallons in a day to its 48,000 customers in the city.

Columbia Water & Light are targeting 2018 to ask voters to approve a bond issue to fund expansion. The department has not said how much it will ask for or how it will affect utility rates.

Black & Veatch’s report estimates that Columbia’s water usage will outgrow what its plant can handle by 2023. The plant, which sports “vintage” equipment from the 1970s, is in need of its own independent repairs, worth $18 million. Committee members favored two options – one that expands the plant to allow for 16 million more gallons a day, or one that adds 10 million gallons a day and includes more options for water conservation. The report also details how and where the city might get and use non-drinkable water for things like lawn irrigation.

The city urged residents in southwest Columbia last summer to use a lawn irrigation schedule. The city suspected simultaneous lawn watering when water pressure dropped for several days. Jay Hasheider, a committee member, said Tuesday the city needed a new rate structure for heavy users of non-potable water. He did not think the city needed to spring for the larger plant expansion, if uses like landscaping were causing the bulk of the capacity issues.

Julie Ryan, a member of the public attending the meeting, said the group should also consider how the plant treats its water in the upcoming bond issue, and possible plant expansion. Moving the building may mean reclassifying how the water source as “groundwater under the direct influence of surface water.” The new “type” of water means the city would have to perform additional testing and monitoring of the drinking water.

The city will hold its next public hearing on the water projects in February.