Spokane County Utilities provides wastewater management for residential,
commercial and industrial customers in the Spokane Valley and North
Spokane service areas. In recent years, the County has rapidly expanded
its wastewater collection system to reduce the number of septic tanks
located over the Spokane Aquifer. This sewer expansion program is
projected to continue through the year 2015 to provide wastewater service
to all existing development within the County's sewer service area. Along
with the sewer system extensions, the County's sewer service area is
projected to experience significant growth over the next twenty years to
meet Growth Management requirements. Both factors will sharply increase
the quantity of wastewater that must be responsibly managed.
Currently, wastewater generated in the County is sent, via a sewer
network, to the Spokane Advanced Treatment Plant (SAWTP) which is owned
and operated by the City of Spokane. A 1980 inter-local agreement
established the basis for the City to treat up to 10 million gallons per
day of County generated wastewater. The County expects to exceed that
capacity by the end of 2007. Due to physical, environmental and
implementation constraints, additional capacity at the SAWTP may not be
available for use by the County, or may be insufficient for the County’s
long-term needs.
Given this situation, the County has conducted a wastewater facilities
planning process to develop long-term wastewater management strategies
that will provide reliable service, protect the environment and be
economical to local ratepayers. In so doing, the County has integrated
its planning with other regional service providers to identify
opportunities for increased efficiency or enhanced benefit to the
watershed. Balanced with these considerations has been the County’s need
for solutions that can be reliably implemented should regional or
intergovernmental approaches prove too difficult, expensive or slow.
The first step in the facilities planning process was to develop a “basis
of planning” to establish the foundation for subsequent identification,
evaluation and selection of appropriate wastewater management strategies.
The Draft Basis of Planning Report was issued in December 2000, and
an updated version is being issued as a companion document to this draft
wastewater facilities plan. The Final Basis of Planning Report
identifies the goals and objectives of the planning process, describes the
current characteristics of the planning area, projects future wastewater
flows and loadings, defines key water quality and water resource issues,
reviews the capabilities of existing wastewater systems, and presents
insight into the values and concerns of interested stakeholders.
The initial planning and data collection step was followed by the
facilities planning process, which is described in this document.
Wastewater planning alternatives, consisting of demand management,
treatment location and capacity, effluent end use, and biosolids handling
elements, were developed and screened. Remaining approaches were analyzed
and costs were estimated. Review workshops were then conducted to
evaluate the alternatives, and a preferred approach was selected.
At the outset of the planning process, the following goals were
established to guide development of a successful wastewater management
program for Spokane County:
·
Provide reliable wastewater service – both near-term (20-years) and
long-term (50-years)
·
Protect public health
·
Protect and improve the region’s water resources – surface water
and groundwater
·
Provide cost-effective solutions for County ratepayers
·
Provide for growth in concurrence with the Growth Management Act
·
Ensure the County has adequate authority and control to meet future
wastewater needs
·
Gain approval by the public, elected officials and regulatory
agencies
The project team also identified a range of project objectives. The
objectives describe specific measures of success used to guide the project
and gauge its outcome.
Stakeholders
·
Identify “Stakeholders” who have a significant interest in Spokane
County’s wastewater management program.
·
Satisfy stakeholders’ expectations for results by keeping rates
competitive and reasonable, providing environmental stewardship, and
delivering quality service to current and future customers.
·
Actively seek and incorporate public input.
Long-Term Solutions
·
Provide long-term planning to better ensure the long-term
feasibility of wastewater management strategies and to allow planning for
future infrastructure, programmatic and land acquisition activities.
Near-Term Capacity Requirement
·
Ensure the recommended solution can be constructed and on-line in
time to meet near-term capacity requirements.
Regulatory Compliance
·
Work with regulators to define current requirements and foreseeable
future changes to regulations.
·
Meet or exceed all anticipated air and water quality standards.
·
Provide flexibility to accommodate potential future changes to
regulations.
Aquifer Protection
·
Facilitate completion of the septic tank elimination program.
Augment or Conserve Water Resources
·
Objectively consider strategies to reduce wastewater generation
such as water conservation or waste minimization.
·
Pursue opportunities to augment regional water resources through
reuse, streamflow augmentation or groundwater recharge where these
approaches are found to be cost-effective, environmentally sound and
acceptable to the public.
·
Educate the public about the value of water conservation.
·
Educate the public about the value of reclaimed water as an
alternative water supply.
Regional Perspective
·
Negotiate a new, mutually beneficial interlocal agreement with the
City of Spokane for future wastewater management activities.
·
Consider and encourage regional approaches to wastewater management
in terms of infrastructure, institutional arrangements and resource
sharing.
·
Coordinate with other regional service providers.
Comprehensive Strategies
·
Develop comprehensive wastewater management strategies that
consider source controls, collection and treatment infrastructure, reuse
or disposal techniques, biosolids management, and institutional
arrangements.
Neighbors
·
If new facilities are recommended, consider the impacts of noise,
odor, traffic, lighting and other impacts to surrounding neighborhoods and
businesses.
·
Incorporate appropriate measures to ensure compatibility of new
facilities with surrounding development.
·
Incorporate neighborhood enhancements, whenever possible.
Facilities Plan Approval
·
Meet State requirements for an Engineering Report and Federal
requirements for a Facilities Plan.
·
Gain regulatory approvals needed to allow the County to qualify for
available grants or loans.
·
Gain approval by the Planning Commission and the Board of County
Commissioners.
Meet Schedule and Budget
·
Complete all elements of the facilities plan on time and within
budget.
Overall planning for the Spokane County wastewater program is divided into
the five major elements shown in Figure 1‑1.
Figure
1‑1
.
Major Planning Components
·
Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP) Update.
This document is being prepared under a separate contract by Engineering
and Economic Services, and is intended to meet the State’s requirements
for a General Sewer Plan. Key elements of the plan are the development of
population and land use forecasts; projections of average wastewater flow
rates; discussion of regional wastewater issues; definition of collection
system requirements to eliminate septic tanks and serve the designated
planning area; and review of financing strategies. The report primarily
focuses on collection system requirements, deferring development of
treatment and reuse/disposal strategies to the Wastewater Facilities
Plan. The demographic and flow projections developed in the CWMP Update
serve as the basis for the flow and loading projections presented in the
Basis of Planning Report.
·
Basis of Planning Report. The Basis of Planning Report
establishes the planning criteria for subsequent development and
evaluation of wastewater management strategies. Two key areas of focus
are (1) flow and loading projections and (2) anticipated effluent quality
requirements for various reuse and disposal scenarios. The report also
describes the characteristic of the planning area in terms of natural
setting, human environment, wastewater infrastructure and public values.
·
County/City Negotiations. A key element of the planning
process is the development of a new interlocal agreement to supersede the
agreement developed in 1980 and adjusted through multiple amendments. Key
areas of focus will be the future allocation of capacity at the SAWTP and
within the City’s conveyance system, methodologies for equitable cost
sharing, and the responsibilities and rights of the City and County.
·
Wastewater Facilities Plan. In the Wastewater Facilities
Plan, potential wastewater management strategies will be identified and
subjected to a rigorous evaluation and screening process. Based on the
results of this evaluation, including input from stakeholders, a
recommended plan will be developed to meet near-term (20 year) and
long-term (50 year) needs. An implementation plan will be developed,
including definition of financial requirements.
·
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). A
programmatic EIS will be developed in parallel with the Wastewater
Facilities Plan to ensure that the evaluation of alternatives and
selection of recommended program elements fully consider potential
environmental impacts and benefits, and incorporate appropriate measures
to mitigate foreseeable adverse impacts. A successful EIS will facilitate
subsequent implementation of the recommended plan.
As described in Chapters 3 and 8, various public involvement opportunities
were offered during the planning process to inform the public, regulatory
agencies and stakeholders about the project, identify community issues of
concern, and provide information to the project team that helped them
develop recommendations that the community supports. Some of the public
information and involvement opportunities that were conducted included:
·
Interviews of community stakeholders to assist in
understanding community issues early in the project.
·
A series of updates or fact sheets that provided information
on the planning process and the alternatives and recommendations being
considered.
·
Presentations to community groups.
·
A series of public meetings during the planning process to
gather public comments.
·
Information on wastewater treatment and water quality
presented at business forums.
·
Requests to the media to present information on wastewater
treatment and water quality issues.
·
A series of inter-agency symposiums at key milestones in the
planning process to present concepts, gain feedback and promote dialogue
amongst potentially competing interests.
·
Formal public comment at the outset of the EIS process.
Formal public hearings will be conducted during adoption of the Wastewater
Facilities Plan and EIS.
On February 4, 2000, the Spokane County Board of Commissioners authorized
HDR Engineering to proceed with preparation of the Wastewater Facilities
Plan (Contract 99-214).
