Oak Creek officials are taking swift steps to repair the Sheriff Reservoir Dam while also working to identify and implement improvements to the city’s drinking water and wastewater treatment systems.

On Thursday, City Council members approved a $10,000 grant to hire WW Wheeler & Associates to secure funding for the dam rehabilitation project.

In a separate decision, the council approved $50,000 for an agreement with AquaWorks DBO Inc. to support wastewater and drinking water improvements needed to bring the city into compliance with state and federal regulations.

---

---

The Sheriff Reservoir Dam was built in 1954 and is located 12 miles southwest of Oak Creek in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Rio Blanco County. It is owned and operated by the City of Oak Creek.

The dam is currently subject to storage restrictions and is classified as a “high-risk dam,” according to the state water management agency.

---

---

Conditions that led to this rating include inadequate spillway capacity and operational problems related to an outdated low-elevation outfall gate. Other problems include a sinkhole discovered in the dam’s foundation and outflow problems related to a shaft casing that is not watertight and a gate that does not close properly.

WW Wheeler & Associates estimates the total cost of the renovation work at $5.5 million.

The company noted that there is a “strong likelihood” that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cover 60 percent of those costs, with the remaining amount raised by various state and local partners, including the Yampa Water Conservancy District and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

Acting City Manager Mary Alice Page-Allen said the city and the consulting firm had been working to put together a financing package before the previous city manager, David Torgler, announced his resignation earlier this year.

After Page-Allen took on the role on an interim basis last month, she said she and city staff worked quickly to get the effort back on track.

“Frankly, we have pulled a rabbit out of the hat in a very short period of time. That is why this agreement has been implemented and approved and is now before you for ratification,” she said.

Page-Allen called the work needed to improve Oak Creek’s drinking water and sewer systems “urgent” because the city has until Dec. 31 to spend a $25,000 grant awarded to it by the state Department of Municipal Affairs.

The deadline to spend the money included in the city’s $50,000 allocation was Aug. 31, but Page-Allen said the city received an extension until the end of the year.

“We need to take action, we just found another violation … we need to take the next steps and show the state that we are going to comply and that is exactly what needs to happen,” she said.

AquaWorks submitted an assessment report to the City last summer that included recommendations and next steps that needed to be taken or completed to meet standards and regulations governing wastewater discharges to the City’s wastewater treatment plant and its drinking water systems.

Thanks to the report, the city was able to secure state funding, but none of the grants have been spent yet.

Tom Holliday, director of Oak Creek’s public works department, said the crux of the problem lies in recently enacted regulations that lower nitrate limits for treated wastewater discharged into Oak Creek from the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

“We built new lagoons in 2008 to solve our ammonia problems and it works perfectly for that. Ten years later, there are new regulations because of the nitrate problems – the plant was not designed for that,” he said.

Page-Allen added that the city also “has somehow fallen by the wayside with some compliance plans that require technical oversight.”

AquaWorks’ assessment also noted the relatively high water production at the city’s water treatment plant, which amounts to 300,000 gallons per day for the city of about 900 residents.

“This flow rate represents an average of 330 GPD per person… nearly three times the expected range of 75 to 100 gallons per day,” the report said. “These numbers indicate that there may be significant water loss in the distribution system that should be further investigated.”