Prairie City weighing options for water supply

With questions starting to arise about the future of the water system in Prairie City, staff and council have started to look at options for the city. Matthew Mahler, CEO of Iowa Regional Utilities Association was on hand at the December meeting to discuss the option of joining IRUA for the city’s water needs.

“We’re a not-for-profit company so we are a little different from rural water associations that are rural water districts. Those are kind of public bodies whereas we are a private company that operates as a not for profit,” Mahler said.

Currently, IRUA serves about 15,000 customers with 55,000 people on its system. It sources water from three areas for the primary system with the Prairie City supply projected to come from the Newton Water Works.

To join IRUA, an upgrade would need to take place at the Newton WaterWorks along with seven miles of water main constructed from Highway 14 to Prairie City. An intermediate booster station would also need to be added to get the water from Highway 14 to the community. The estimated cost for the project is $2 million.

“There are three major components of a water system: the water supply, the treatment system and the distribution system,” Mahler said. “How we come into play in that equation, you take the first two components the water supply and the treatment system knock them out. We are bringing the treated water to the distribution system. They are still Prairie City-owned pipes, all of the things for the distribution system.”

Currently, the bulk water rate for IRUA is $3.44 per 1,000 gallons. With a board made up of its membership, which are customers for IRUA, the company has worked hard to be sensitive to cost control and rates.

“The relatively infrequent modest rate increase model, that is what the board has done. We had a 2 percent rate increase for 2022,” Mahler said. “One of our suppliers increased rates 30 percent on us and we increased rates 6 percent over three years, the same time period. That’s because of the board, they are diligent looking at the rates and they don’t want to be in a position having to 10 percent.”

The council asked if by Prairie City coming on board, would the rates go down due to the additional customer base. Mahler said the bulk rates won’t go down, but they also won’t go up as fast.

A timeline of 18 months for the pipeline and booster station was presented along with 24 to 30 months for enhancements at the Newton WaterWorks plant. Parts of the plans will take negotiations but Mahler was confident in his relationships with those involved. He also discussed how financing would work for the project.

“$2 million is relatively large for our history. Normally the connection fee is 50 percent upfront so we have the funds to buy the materials and then 50 percent once the connection is made. It is all negotiable,” Mahler said.

Council member Ann McDonald asked if the city is taking its water treatment plant out of the system, who has the responsibility for the water being treated. The agreement from IRUA has the provider bringing water that meets regulatory standards.

“You are buying water that meets the required limits that you have to meet by operating your treatment plant,” Mahler said. “IRUA would provide the treated water and downstream of the meter, if there was a water main break in the city you would be responsible for that, water quality testing you would still do your individual meter reading and administrative and billing. It is just a different source, instead of treating your own water you are buying it from us.”

When asked what the benefits of joining the IRUA are, Mahler said the company would be taking on the role of water supply and treatment work, freeing up time for city employees to address other areas. The biggest downside he has heard is the perceived control argument. He also mentioned that as far as he knows, once a community has joined the IRUA, none have ever gone back to treating their own water.

“Cities have lots of reason for joining and it is almost a case by case for each city,” Mahler said. “By in large, a city gets to a decision point where they are faced with a major capital project that brings them to the decision point of do we want to pay this cost and continue to operate the water supply system or connecting to a regional system.”

McDonald said that point is what started the process of looking at different options for the water system.

“That hits us because we are trying to think to the future and knowing that our wells, we’re on our third well out there and we’re looking at the potential of when we’ll have to switch over to a fourth well. That’s been brought up by public works so that is what triggered the question,” McDonald said.

Further discussion will be had on the topic as the city continues to look toward options for the water system in the future.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com