Rawlins adopts Water Master Plan Level I Study

On Feb. 4, 2025, the Rawlins City Council adopted the 2024 Rawlins Water Master Plan Level I Study, a comprehensive roadmap for ensuring the city’s water supply infrastructure can meet future demands.

Funded by the Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC), the state’s water planning agency, the Water Master Plan Level I Study prioritizes necessary water system improvements and enables the city to access the grants and loan program of the WWDC.

Comprehensive Analysis of Rawlins Water System

The Water Master Plan Level I Study provides a comprehensive analysis that:

• Defines the service area and provides historical and forecasted population data and information on existing water demands and forecasted water needs at the planning horizon.

• Provides an overview of the water resources available to the city and a condition assessment of the vast and intricate infrastructure needed to make municipal use of the resources.

• Presents a capital improvement plan (CIP) and recommendations for water system improvements, including considerations for financing and scheduling. 

Top Priorities for Water System Improvements

The study identifies four key priorities:

1. Spring Boxes and Collection System: This project covers the replacement of Sage Creek and Beaver Creek spring boxes, spring box laterals, and collection pipelines. While 10,000 feet of the wood stave pipeline was replaced in 2022, another 20,300 feet of wood stave pipeline needs to be upgraded. An American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant is funding the design for additional improvements.

2. Sage Creek Transmission Pipeline: This project involves rehabilitating 16 blowoffs, 90 air-vacuum stations, and four line valves. The project will also restore the cathodic protection system, which has been inoperable for several years. The WWDC has approved preliminary funding of $2.8 million.

3. 20-Inch Ductile Iron Transmission Line: The high-pressure line from the Tank Farm to Spruce Street needs replacement unless a comprehensive condition assessment identifies a significant portion of the line as still useful and reliable. The replacement could be phased depending on funding, but it is most practical to survey, permit, and design the entire project under one contract.

4. Tank Farm Water Storage Tanks: This project entails removing one 7.75 million gallons potable water storage tank at the Tank Farm and replacing it with a new 2 million gallon tank.

Rawlins’ Water Sources and Infrastructure

Rawlins relies on three municipal water supply sources: Sage Creek Springs, the Nugget Aquifer, and the North Platte River. These water sources can either be treated and used directly or stored in reservoirs for later treatment and use. Treated water is distributed to approximately 3,800 municipal water taps/accounts, serving domestic, commercial, industrial, and irrigation needs and the Town of Sinclair. The infrastructure of water collection, transmission and distribution pipelines, water treatment systems and storage tanks are vast. Some components are over 100 years old, and other components have aged to the end of their useful life.

In 2020, the city began designing a comprehensive rehabilitation of the Sage Creek Springs collection system. Spot failures of the 100-year-old wood stave collection pipelines were becoming increasingly frequent, and the efficiency of spring water collection was declining. Between 2020 and early 2022, the city recognized the need for maintenance on the Sage Creek Transmission Pipeline. Leaks were observed at the blowoffs due to corrosion, and air stations were failing.

Rawlins’ catastrophic failure of water service delivery systems in early 2022 highlighted the need for a comprehensive water master plan. In response to the ongoing system challenges, city staff met with Rep. Dan Hicks, who proposed funding this Water Master Plan within the 2023 Omnibus Water Bill - Planning and Administration. The legislature passed the bill, which allocated funding to the WWDC to pay for the Rawlins study.

The WWDC awarded the study contract to Sheridan-based WWC Engineering in May 2023. Between May 2023 and August 2024, WWC Engineering worked closely with WWDC and city staff to prepare the plan. As part of the study, WWC Engineering performed an inventory, inspection and evaluation of the city water infrastructure and prepared conceptual designs and cost estimates for several projects.

The WWDC approved the final Water Master Plan Level I Study in 2024.