Where: Ute Mountain Tribe, Towoac, Colorado
Problem: Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s aging water and sewer lines needed to be replaced.
Solution: RCAC worked with the Tribe to access U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development funding for upgrades.
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southern Colorado needed to upgrade its aging water and wastewater system to continue to provide services to the Towaoc community and expand services to reach new customers. Due to population growth Towaoc has 1,087 people living in 500 households from which most are connected to the water system and two-thirds are connected to two separate wastewater systems. To access U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development funds the Tribe needed to develop an emergency response and fire prevention plan and conduct a Preliminary Engineering Review (PER) and Environmental Assessment (EA).
In 2015 and early 2016, RCAC facilitated calls between Tribal members and representatives from the regional and Central USDA’s offices in Colorado (in Cortez and Denver, respectively) and Utah to discuss the funding application requirements and developed a weekly action plan the group could follow to gather the necessary documents to complete the application. RCAC also helped bridge communication between the Tribe and USDA, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Indian Health Services (HIS) and the Engineering firm Souder, Miller & Associates.
RCAC helped the Tribe develop an Emergency Response Plan and choose an engineering firm to perform a Preliminary Engineering Review and Environmental Assessment. The estimated cost of the water project is around $2.4 million, from which $2 million will be granted from USDA; the remaining $400,000 most likely will be a 2.5 percent interest loan to be repaid in 38 years. The estimated cost of the waste water project is $1.7 million.
Both the Environmental Assessment and Preliminary Engineering Review for the water and wastewater project are now in review. The funding application was expected to be approved in February for the water project and March for the wastewater project.
Building on the experience in Colorado, RCAC is also working with Ute Mountain Ute Tribe members in Utah to develop similar projects in White Mesa and the City of Blanding. The problems these two communities face are more complex and challenging than the ones in Colorado, however, the communication among the various stakeholders (community, government and engineers) has been established and the Environmental Assessment and Preliminary Engineering Review are now in the initial draft stage.
