City of Rawlins Advances Date Street Water Booster Station to Improve System Redundancy and Allow for Repair of High-Pressure Water Line
- May 20
- 2 min read
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he City of Rawlins is moving forward with design, funding, and installation of the Date Street Water Booster Station, which will create a new connection between the city’s low-pressure and high-pressure water systems. The booster station, planned near Date Street and 9th Street, will create a backup connection to move water from the low-pressure system into the high-pressure zone when needed.
“The Date Street Booster Station project creates something our system has needed for many years – redundancy for about half of our community,” said Public Works Director Cody Dill. “Today, the high-pressure zone depends on a single transmission line. This project creates another way to move water through the system during repairs, maintenance, or emergency situations. This gives us the flexibility we need to repair the high-pressure water line while maintaining water service for the community.”
The City water system is divided into low- and high-pressure zones. The high-pressure zone includes the Hospital and Painted Hills tanks and supplies western Rawlins, the northern portions of town, and Highland Hills. Currently, the high-pressure zone is supplied through a single 20-inch transmission line from the water treatment plant. The high-pressure transmission line has been identified as a priority repair for many years due to its fragile condition. The line has experienced major failures in 2017, 2019, 2024, and again in 2026.
“This line remains one of the community’s highest infrastructure priorities,” said City Manager Matt Hall. “However, before the high-pressure line can be fully repaired or replaced, there must be another way to provide water to the tanks during construction. This project creates that solution.” The Date Street Booster Station will maintain water service and fire protection capability by moving water from the low-pressure system into the high-pressure zone.
The City has been actively planning for improvements to this system for several years. In 2023, Rawlins received a $194,800 grant supporting design work for improvements to the Sage Creek collection system and portions of the high-pressure transmission infrastructure. Due to the condition of the transmission line and the need to move quickly, the City has authorized emergency design and engineering work with Sunrise Engineering to continue project development and reduce future risks to the community’s water system.
The Date Street Booster Station project is another piece in Rawlins’ broader effort to modernize and strengthen critical water infrastructure. Over the last several years, the City has completed approximately $4.2 million in major water projects using a combination of Water Fund revenues and approximately $1.9 million in Federal and State grant funding. These projects included replacing 10,000 feet of wood stave pipe in the springs, bringing the pretreatment plant online, installing a new monitoring and control system, and adopting a comprehensive water master plan.
For more information, please contact Mira Miller, City of Rawlins Community Relations/PIO at 307-328-4500 ext. 1022. Interested in receiving news from the City? Sign up for news via email or text at www.rawlinswy.gov/notifyme under “City of Rawlins News.”
