City Approves Next Steps in Water Sourcing Project

By Gordon Hopkins A groundwater model report was presented to the Fairbury City Council on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. After reviewing the report, the council voted unanimously to take the next step, which is to authorize Miller and Associates Engineering to provide updated cost estimates and investigate potential funding options. Mary Renn, Project Manager, emphasized that the vote does not authorize any action beyond determining funding and costs, “This motion to move the project forward only requires Miller and Associates to present an updated estimate of costs of the project as well as funding opportunities and any potential grant dollars that could be available to the city of Fairbury. There is no other commitment.” The purpose of the Water Sourcing Project is to locate a new, lower-nitrate water source for both the Little Blue NRD (Natural Resources District) and the City of Fairbury. In July 2021, the city entered into an inter-local agreement with Little Blue NRD to cost share in a project to identify a new water source with nitrates ranging from 0-3ppm (parts per million), under the LBVWS entity.The proposed wellfield is approximately four miles south of Daykin. Regarding costs, Renn noted, “This project is a gravity-fed project. There's no pump house that's required for it. So that is a cost saving. The land rights are being offered at no cost to the project. And the project is cost-shared. The opportunity for all three of those things to correct for the same project will likely not occur at a future date. There also may be grant dollars that are available to the project and that will help offset the additional cost that has been incurred because of the current environment.” The estimated amount of water to be drawn from the new wellfield is slightly more than a million gallons a day. The groundwater model report, prepared by LRE (Leonard Rice Engineering) Water, an engineering consultant based in Denver, Colorado, anticipates only a minor impact on nearby irrigation wells. The report concluded that “The proposed wellfield if constructed, would only reduce aquifer discharge to waterways by approximately 4 percent compared to ambient pre-development conditions.” Despite this, a number of landowners are in opposition to the project. One such individual, Ronald Yantz, a civil engineer, submitted concerns in writing. One of his concerns is that LRE extrapolated using data from 2016 through 2021. Yantz wrote, “The previous six years of usage data (216 through 2021) demonstrate that the period of study was ‘abnormally wet’ in comparison to the period from before 2010 up to 2016. Conclusions based on this six-year study period do not adequately capture the impact of the LBVWS.”

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