PROJECT INFORMATION:
The Town of Encampment is located in southern Carbon County and takes
its water supply from the North Fork of the Encampment River.
Deliveries to end users are limited by both the reliability of supply
and the capacity of the treatment plant. Daily use per capita is 377
gallons. This figure is relatively high, but since the system is
unmetered, there is no way to correlate actual usage with treatment
plant output. Some portion of the base daily demand may be a result of
system losses.
The system has 293 taps and serves a population of 400. The system is
unmetered and users pay a flat monthly rate of $19. Encampment wants a
master plan study to assist in location of alterative sources and
evaluation of general system condition, management and operation. The
town is particularly concerned that the North Fork is not a reliable
source in time of drought. A previous WWDC project funded
reconstruction of the intake structure and delivery system to the
treatment plant to improve the function of the diversion in periods of
low flow, but the North Fork has been known to dry up completely in the
reach at the diversion. WWDC has funded extensive groundwater
exploration in the area. Previous Encampment studies, and the
construction by WWDC of a new water supply system for the neighboring
Town of Riverside, indicate that the only viable alternative source is
likely to be groundwater development in the Brown's Park formation east
of Riverside.
WWDC funded several test and production wells to develop the supply
source for Riverside. Previous studies have also recommended meters as
one way to control use and provide information for system management,
but Encampment has chosen not to install meters. If the study is funded,
priority consideration should be given to a linking of the Encampment
and Riverside water systems. The communities have resisted such
cooperation in the past, with the result that the area has two
completely separate sewage treatment systems for a total population of
under 1000 people.
RECOMMENDED LEGISLATIVE ACTION:
The WWDC recommends the project be incorporated into the New
Development Program at Level II status with an appropriation of $45,000.