(l to r) Shawn Gaddie, Steve Burian, and Duane DuKrey prepare presentation of the Red River Valley Water Supply Project (RRVWSP)
JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Three officials involved with the $1.22 billion Red River Valley Water Supply Project (RRVWSP) were in Jamestown Monday.
Garrison Diversion General Manager Duane DeKrey, President of Burian and Associates Steve Burian, and Director for Infrastructure Management with AE2S Shawn Gaddie spoke to city and county leaders on the latest information.
The project will convey treated water from the Missouri River from central North Dakota east to the Red River Valley. When complete, the pipeline will begin at the Missouri River near Washburn and continue along Highway 200 to the Sheyenne River.
DuKrey says the project is also a long-term emergency water supply to the eastern part of North Dakota.
The 72-inch pipe will have the capacity to convey water at 165 cubic feet per second during peak demands over the 165 mile long pipe to the Sheyenne River.
Currently, the project is approximately 9.2% funded and continues to seek funding through grants and legislative appropriations.
Steve Burian says it’s a very expensive project.
Burian says in their initial outreach, over 100 meetings were held with potential users in Central and Eastern North Dakota, with more than 35 users signing the development agreement. This includes Jamestown and Stutsman County, who nominated a total of 11 cfs of water to the project.
Utilizing a mix of industrial and rural use, Gaddie says there are multiple, possible benefits of developing project industrial water.
Providing the industrial water, Gaddie says that would open the state to even more growth.
At this time, both Stutsman County and the City of Jamestown will need to decide if they wish to continue user participation. To date, both Stutsman Rural Water and the City of Jamestown contributed roughly $135,000 in the development agreement in 2016.
Burian says now, they’ll need to decide if they wish to continue with the project continuation agreement, which will be expected next year.
Both entities will need to consider domestic and industrial nomination, peak day demand, desired points of connection for planning purposes, desired route of service, and desired water quality from the project.
For more information on the project, visit http://www.rrvwsp.com/