Woods Bay sewer district appeals to Legislature for $10 million

This week is an important one for the Greater Woods Bay Sewer District in its long-running quest to connect to Bigfork’s wastewater treatment facility.

Pat Smith, the district’s chairman, was scheduled to testify before a legislative committee in Helena Tuesday, making a pitch for $10 million to be included in Gov. Steve Bullock’s infrastructure bill. The funding would allow the Woods Bay project to be built.

“It all comes down to whether the Legislature thinks it’s a viable project,” Smith said Monday, noting how past infrastructure bills have involved a tug-of-war between different communities across the state. Eastern Montana’s oil-boom communities, stressed with public infrastructure needs, have figured prominently in Bullock’s infrastructure bill.

Smith and Woods Bay water and sewer district supporters believe they can make a strong case for converting properties that depend on septic systems to a municipal sewer system. Their argument starts with the ecological health of Flathead Lake.

Smith said septic systems function properly for 10 to 15 years, but he is aware of some systems in the Woods Bay area are 30 to 50 years old. Water testing of wells in the Woods Bay area has revealed that there has been a slow, but steady, increase in phosphates and nitrates, compounds that are known to degrade water quality in Flathead Lake, Smith said.

The $10 million would allow the district to build a pipeline to the Bigfork wastewater treatment facility, and install a collection system tied to 620 properties that rely on individual septic systems, Smith said.

“We need this to happen,” Smith said. “We’re just trying to figure out when and how. It’s something everyone agrees we need to do.”

Smith said the Woods Bay district’s efforts have been underway for 11 years, and the district is now poised to proceed if the legislative funding comes through. The district has been working closely with the Flathead Lake Biological Station, the Flathead Lakers and the Flathead Basin Commission, and Smith said the project has considerable support.

He was scheduled to testify in Helena before an appropriations subcommittee on long-range planning, which is doing initial work on House Bill 5, which will provide for infrastructure development projects across the state for the next two years.