NEWS ROCKY BOY’S / NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA REGIONAL WATER SYSTEM PROJECT IN THIS ISSUE: Federal Funding Update Spotlight on Harlan Baker Spotlight on Larry Morsette Core System Water Treatment Plant Work Plan Segment W4-A1: Conrad to Brady Construction Update Segment W3: Shelby to Cut Bank Value Engineering Results Third Quarter 2013 Check out the Rocky Boy’s / North Central Montana Regional Water System Project Web Site: http://www. rockyboynorthcentral. com/ Federal Funding Update The Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Regional Water System Project (NCMRWS) Project was authorized in 2002 at a cost of $229 million and a planned implementation timeline of about 10 years. The Project is about 20 percent complete due to the limited amount of annual Federal funding that has been received to date. The delayed completion of the Project combined with the annual indexing process completed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) has projected the 2015 authorized ceiling of the Project to be approximately $372 million. Efforts to increase the amount of Federal funding received in the future are actively being monitored and supported by stakeholders of the Rocky Boy’s/NCMRWS Project. Such efforts include the introduction of Senate Bill 715 by Montana Senator Max Baucus. S. 715 would provide the BoR with the ability to construct authorized regional water system projects using a portion of its surplus funds identified from the BoR general account. The account currently has a surplus balance of $9.8 billion. As proposed, S. 715 would allocate approximately $80 million annually to the seven authorized regional water system projects over the next 20 years. The Chippewa Cree Tribe has testified in Washington, DC as a supporter of a similar bill, advocating Congress to approve the bill based on its designation as a deficit neutral option to make adequate progress toward fulfilling the obligation of the Tribe’s water rights settlement. The Chippewa Cree Tribe and the NCMRWA have submitted letters of support for this legislation. Funding provided from S. 715 could be used immediately by the Chippewa Cree Construction Corporation to design and construct Phase 1A of the Rocky Boy’s Core System Water Treatment Plant. With the notable progress on the Core System Pipeline, Phase 1A would be capable of providing treated water service to five members of the NCMRWA, including the Town of Chester, Tiber County Water District, Hill County Spotlight on Harlan Baker - Co-Chair of Rocky Boy’s/ NCMRWS Project The Chippewa Cree Construction Corporation (CCCC) Board has nominated Harlan Baker to serve as Co-Chair of the Coordinating Committee of the Rocky Boy’s/ NCMRWS Project. Harlan has served the Chippewa Cree Tribe during the completion of many on-reservation drinking water projects and is well respected among the Tribal community. As Co-Chair, Harlan will continue to provide leadership and direction by representing the Core System of the Rocky Boy’s/NCMRWS Project. Continued on Page 4 Harlan Baker
Transcript
NEWSROCKY BOY’S / NORTH
CENTRAL MONTANA REGIONAL WATER SYSTEM PROJECT
IN THIS ISSUE:
Federal Funding Update
Spotlight on Harlan Baker
Spotlight on Larry Morsette
Core System Water Treatment Plant Work Plan
Segment W4-A1: Conrad to Brady Construction Update
Segment W3: Shelby to Cut Bank Value Engineering Results
Third Quarter 2013
Check out the Rocky Boy’s / North Central Montana Regional Water System Project Web Site: http://www.rockyboynorthcentral.com/
Federal Funding Update
The Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Regional Water System Project (NCMRWS) Project was authorized in 2002 at a cost of $229 million and a planned implementation timeline of about 10 years. The Project is about 20 percent complete due to the limited amount of annual Federal funding that has been received to date. The delayed completion of the Project combined with the annual indexing process completed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) has projected the 2015 authorized ceiling of the Project to be approximately $372 million.
Efforts to increase the amount of Federal funding received in the future are actively being monitored and supported by
stakeholders of the Rocky Boy’s/NCMRWS Project. Such efforts include the introduction of Senate Bill 715 by Montana Senator Max Baucus. S. 715 would provide the BoR with the ability to construct authorized regional water system projects using a portion of its surplus funds identified from the BoR general account. The account currently has a surplus balance of $9.8 billion. As proposed, S. 715 would allocate approximately $80 million annually to the seven authorized regional water system projects over the next 20 years. The Chippewa Cree Tribe has testified in Washington, DC as a supporter of a similar bill, advocating Congress to approve the bill based on its designation as a deficit neutral option to
make adequate progress toward fulfilling the obligation of the Tribe’s water rights settlement. The Chippewa Cree Tribe and the NCMRWA have submitted letters of support for this legislation.
Funding provided from S. 715 could be used immediately by the Chippewa Cree Construction Corporation to design and construct Phase 1A of the Rocky Boy’s Core System Water Treatment Plant. With the notable progress on the Core System Pipeline, Phase 1A would be capable of providing treated water service to five members of the NCMRWA, including the Town of Chester, Tiber County Water District, Hill County
Spotlight on Harlan Baker - Co-Chair of Rocky Boy’s/ NCMRWS Project
The Chippewa Cree Construction Corporation (CCCC) Board has nominated Harlan Baker to serve as Co-Chair of the Coordinating Committee of the Rocky Boy’s/NCMRWS Project. Harlan has served the Chippewa Cree Tribe during the
completion of many on-reservation drinking water projects and is well respected among the Tribal community. As Co-Chair, Harlan will continue to provide leadership and direction by representing the Core System of the Rocky Boy’s/NCMRWS Project.
Continued on Page 4
Harlan Baker
Larry Morsette
A critical component of the Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Regional Water System (NCMRWS) Project is the Core System Water Treatment Plant (WTP). Based on the capacity information provided by participating water systems, the Core System WTP is being planned with a capacity of 34.5 million gallons per day (MGD). The total capacity was developed with the intent of meeting population projections and associated long-term water demands of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation as well as the seven-county area to be served by the Project.
Phase 1A of the Core System WTP is a critical milestone to providing safe drinking water to the Rocky Boy’s Reservation and participating water systems of the North Central Montana Regional Water Authority (NCMRWA). To maximize the impact of funding as it is received, the WTP will be completed in a phased approach. Phase 1A consists of the necessary infrastructure to bring the initial WTP online.
The Core System intake and considerable portions of the Core System Pipeline have been constructed to date. Recent and current planning efforts for Phase 1A of the WTP include utilizing already constructed Core System infrastructure to supply 3.5 MGD of drinking water to NCMRWA systems such as Chester, Riverview Colony, South Chester County Water District (CWD), Tiber CWD, and Hill CWD, which includes the communities of Joplin, Inverness, Rudyard, Hingham, Gildford, and Kremlin.
In preparation for the construction of Phase 1A of the WTP, the Chippewa Cree Tribe has authorized the preparation of a
preliminary design submittal to facilitate the completion of a Value Engineering event as required by the Bureau of Reclamation. The Value Engineering event is planned to be completed in 2014, with final design and construction proceeding thereafter. The estimated cost to construct Phase 1A
of the Core System WTP is approximately $50 million. Assuming funding is made available, construction of Phase 1A of the Core System WTP could commence within approximately 6-9 months.
Core System Water Treatment Plant Work Plan
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- Main Process Building- Future Process Building- Disinfectant Contact Basin- Finished Water Reservoir #1- Finished Water Reservoir #2- West System High Service PS- Potential Future Treatment Process #1- Potential Future Treatment Process #2- Personnel Housing- Security Fence- Substation- Drainfield
16
11
4
5 8
3
6
2
1
79
12
10
Segment #0 (Core) PipelineServing Eastern Portion of System
13
Raw Water Line
12
14
Phase 1AFuture PhasesCompleted
Phase 1A Components:- Protion of WTP Building- Treatment Equipment (3 MGD)- Two Residuals Ponds- Single Raw Water Line- Two Intake Pumps- Gravel Road- Electrical
Segment W2-A (Non-Core) PipelineServing Western Portion of System
15
Site Layout of Core System Water Treatment Plant
SWEET GRASS CWD
SUNBURSTOILMONT CWD
KEVIN
CUT BANK
SHELBY
GALATA CWD
SAGE CREEK CWD
CHESTER
DEVON WATER, INC.
TIBER CWD
CONRAD
DUTTON
BRADY CWD
RIVERVIEW COLONY
SOUTH CHESTERCWD
HILL CWD
LOMA CWD
BIG SANDY
HAVRE
NORTH HAVRE CWDEAGLECREEK
COLONY
Phase 1 A Service Area
Potential WaterService AreaCORE SYSTEM
NON-CORE SYSTEM
ROCKY BOY’SRESERVATION
Core System On-Reservation
Spotlight on Larry Morsette - CEO of Chippewa Cree Construction Corporation
The Chippewa Cree Construction Corporation (CCCC) Board has promoted Larry Morsette to the position of Chief Executive Officer. While serving in this capacity, Larry will focus on the day-to-day construction operations of CCCC. Larry
will also administer the planning and design efforts completed for the Core System of the Rocky Boy’s/NCMRWS Project.
Vacuum Excavation to Locate Petroleum Lines Safely Crossing Existing Utilities
Construction of the Conrad to Brady pipeline, which will provide treated water from the City of Conrad to Brady County Water & Sewer District, is in full swing. The segment consists of a 10-inch pipeline, a pump station, standpipe, and metering equipment. Sandry Construction Company of Bigfork, MT was awarded the project and initiated construction in July 2013.As of mid-August, approximately six miles of pipeline was in place. The pipeline bore under Interstate 15 via directional drilling technology should also be completed in August. Emphasis is being placed on restoring trench sites to their pre-construction states. Topsoil removed for trenching is stockpiled and placed back on top of the filled trench
in order to protect the quality of the sites for farm production. Seeding plans are also in place to reclaim the site, and are specific to the current use of each property disturbed by construction activity.
The route of Segment W4-A1 crosses several petroleum pipelines. These utility crossings were located before construction began through the use of vacuum excavation. This allowed plans to be made for safely crossing the neighboring pipelines while protecting from damage. Representatives from Calumet, Front Range, and Phillips 66 were on site to observe construction activities.
Concrete thrust blocks are being poured at locations where there
is an alignment shift or a valve located to prevent pipeline movement during operation. Daily coordination with landowners along the alignment is taking place to ensure access to the site and to minimize the effect of construction activities. Visits from the State Department of Environmental Quality, the Montana Department of Transportation, and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to observe construction took place in August.
Construction on the booster station and standpipe is expected to begin this fall. An update on the construction of these facilities will be provided in the next issue of this newsletter.
The Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) conducted a value engineering (VE) review of the preliminary design for Segment W3: Shelby to Cut Bank. The interim service scenario for providing service to Cut Bank from Shelby was analyzed by engineers from the Department of Environmental Quality, the BoR, and members of the NCMRWA design engineering team. The purpose of the VE review, held during the week of June 24 – 28 in Helena, was to identify possible ways to improve the function and value of the design or to reduce the overall cost, or both. The outcome of the
VE review was the identification of six specific alternatives for further investigation. These alternatives were published in a final VE report in July 2013. The alternatives include: 1) installing an in-line booster station; 2) implementing reduced voltage starters at the pump station; 3) using an alternate method of surge protection; 4) reducing the pipe diameter from 18 inches to 16 inches for a portion of the segment length; 5) reducing the pressure class of the pipe; and 6) specifying a substitute pipe material.
Implementation of some of the alternatives may result in savings to the project of nearly $1 million. Since these alternatives resulted from a 4-day broad review with no formal design calculations, the report was delivered to the original design team for intensive evaluation. The design team is currently in the process of preparing its analysis of the viability of each of the proposed alternatives and will report back to the BoR in September 2013.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Regional Water System Coordinating Committee Meeting • Nov. 26, 2013 - 10am
AE2S office in Great Falls
North Central Montana Regional Water Authority Executive Committee Meetings• Sept. 24, 2013 - 10am
Shelby, MT• Oct. 22, 2013 - 10am
AE2S office in Great Falls• Nov. 26, 2013 - 1pm
AE2S Office
North Central Montana Regional Water Authority Annual Meeting• Sept. 24, 2013 - 1pm
Shelby, MT
Segment W4-A1: Conrad to Brady Construction Update
Segment W3: Shelby to Cut Bank Value Engineering Results
First Name Last NameAddressCity, State Zip
North Central Montana Regional Water Authority PO Box 2456Havre, MT 59501
Water District, South Chester County Water District, and Riverview Colony. The NCMRWA would also benefit from increased Federal funding to complete Non-Core System segments required to provide permanent water service to the aforementioned systems, as well as segments currently in progress.
Project stakeholders are also tracking the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2014,
which was recently passed by the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. The bill proposes to appropriate an additional $25 million to the BoR Rural Water Supply Program to be distributed among the authorized regional water projects. The Chippewa Cree Tribe and the NCMRWA have submitted letters thanking Representative Daines for his efforts to support additional funding for the Rocky Boy’s/NCMRWS Project through this bill.
