Finding a successful solution to mitigate high levels of nitrates in Grass Valley (GV) residents’ drinking water caused by a large concentration of septic systems has been of great concern to the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners since the early 1990s, but the process has been lengthy and any viable solution is very expensive. The Board has begun taking a serious look at how to utilize a wastewater treatment facility to combat the nitrates as County officials pursue grant funding.
During the regular meeting of the Commissioners on Oct. 2, the Board unanimously approved a motion by Commissioner Mark Evatz to accept and execute the 2023 Nevada Water Conservation Infrastructure Initiative $5 million grant award for the Grass Valley Nitrate Mitigation and Waste Water Treatment Project. Commission Chairman Ken Tipton was absent from the meeting and Vice Chair Jesse Hill led the discussion.
The $5 million grant award is coming from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds through the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, supporting pre-construction costs for the project, like professional design.
Previous estimates from Farr West Engineering, now DOWL Engineering, who has historically been working on the professional design for the project, stated that constructing a wastewater treatment facility in the Grass Valley Area would cost the County almost $30 million, so County Manager Dave Mendiola and Humboldt Economic Development Officer Michelle Hammond-Allen have been working to identify as many possible funding sources as possible.
Mendiola has said previously that the goal is to get all of the funding for the project covered by grants and that by accepting this grant he is confident that it will cover all of the pre-construction costs necessary for the project.
Mendiola told the Board that there are about $15 million in funds tentatively secured from the State of Nevada for the project already, including $3.5 million from Nevada Congressman (R) Mark Amodei of more Coronavirus relief type funds with a 20 percent fund match required from the County and a $5.5 million commitment from Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen with a required commitment from the County of a little over a million dollars.
Mendiola also explained that the funds will come through reimbursement, so the County will pay the funds and then be reimbursed in about 30 days and that the project has been recognized as high priority on the State of Nevada water infrastructure list since 1999.
The Board has decided to seriously explore what it might look like to connect Grass Valley residents to the City of Winnemucca’s existing wastewater treatment facility to both utilize what already exists, avoiding some construction time, and reducing the County’s footprint in the GV area, as discussed at the meeting.
DOWL representative David Pulley explained that the potential cost savings to utilize the City of Winnemucca’s system is not very significant but it is a very viable option and that the design process is estimated to take about 18 months because of all of the intricacies.
The County has already purchased both the Gold Country and Star City water systems that supply water to many Grass Valley residents as a phased approach to mitigate the nitrates by drilling a new well and combining the systems temporarily.
County officials, including Mendiola, will be meeting with City officials on Oct. 11 to discuss the possibility of utilizing the City’s system and a joint meeting will be held at a later date between the County and the City in order to come to a final decision.