PROJECT INFORMATION:
The Washakie County Commissioners applied for a Level I study to
evaluate the potential of providing water to rural areas in the
Worland vicinity. There has been substantial residential development
in rural Washakie County, and because groundwater is generally poor
in the area there is need for a centralized water system.
In 1994 the Level I study identified potential rural users that could
be served by a rural water system. Several sources of supply were
considered, with the Worland municipal system selected as the most
cost effective choice. The Level II study refined the Level I work,
and approximately 500 potential taps were identified, which would
require pipelines extending completely through the county from north
to south. A number of variations in service area configurations were
considered in an effort to delineate the most cost effective means to
serve the maximum number of taps.
In 1999 the city of Worland in conjunction with the other major water
users in the area (Greybull, Basin, Manderson, Kirby, Lucerne, and
Thermopolis) would like to construct a new regional water supply pipeline,
as a portion of the Washakie Regional System, from the Worland well
field down the Nowood River drainage to the Big Horn River then up the
valley to Worland. This would be an alternate pipeline to Worland from
the well field but would serve additional users along its route. A
second line would run from the north end of the Big Horn Regional System
north across the Greybull River to the Greybull Area System. This
pipeline would be an alternate supply to Greybull and their proposed new
storage tank on the west bank of the Big Horn River. The water users in
the Hot Springs County area are also looking at adding to the Regional
System via the Hot Springs Rural System.
RECOMMENDED LEGISLATIVE ACTION:
The WWDC recommends that the project be placed incorporated into the New
Development Program at Level II with an appropriation of $65,000.
