Indian Hills sticks with pipeline plan

An attempt to seek options besides a pipeline to solve Indian Hills' arsenic problems met a deadlock last week.

General Improvement District Chairwoman Dianne Humble sought trustees' approval Aug. 19 for manager James Taylor to continue to explore options for treating the arsenic in the district's water.

She said she wanted to require the county to present the costs so district residents would know what they're in for.

"I'm looking for something in writing, so the district is not out on a limb," she said. "We don't have any numbers and we need some numbers. I'd like to have Jim revisit the options."

Board member Denise Pierini agreed that Taylor should be keeping an eye out for alternatives to the pipeline.

The district has been out of compliance with federal arsenic standards since they were decreased from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion in 2006. The district's water is 17 parts per billion.

Engineer Brian Randall told trustees the district would have to build a 7,000-foot long pipeline between Indian Hills and Heybourne Road to connect to the Minden-Carson line.

That pipeline will have to cross Highway 395, Kirman Field wetlands and the Carson River.

Indian Hills' portion of the cost for the pipeline between Minden and Carson and extending the pipeline across the river is estimated at $5 million.

Water in the pipeline would come from Minden, who would wholesale it to Douglas County, who would then sell it to Indian Hills. While estimates are the water will cost less than $1 per 1,000 gallons per minute, Humble said she was concerned by the lack of information on water rates.

The county's dealings with its own water systems in Sheridan Acres and Jobs Peak raised concerns for trustees Humble and Pierini.

Douglas County has been subsidizing its water systems by paying for their administrative costs. An attempt to make the water systems pay their own way, and provide funding for improvements and depreciation resulted in estimated rate increases of up to $400 per month for some users. In order to reduce the per user cost, the county is working on consolidating operation of its water systems to spread costs out over more users.

Humble wanted to know whether Indian Hills water users might someday be called to subsidize someone else's water, though she acknowledged that the pipeline was probably the best solution.

Board member Ronnie Lynch said he felt having the district manager look into other options after the district voted to participate in the pipeline would send the wrong message.

Board member Brian Patrick agreed with Lynch, saying the situation with the county's water systems in southwest Carson Valley was different from those of Indian Hills.

The district is under an order from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to reduce the arsenic in its water. Board members voted last month to go forward with the pipeline after hearing that maintaining an arsenic treatment plant would be a more expensive option.

District Manager Taylor said that once the pipeline is complete, the district's main source of water, Brown Well, will continue to operate for 12 months, but then would be taken off the water system. He said there are still some obligations for that water, including the water skiing school and watering the golf course, but that the district would have to issue a notice to residents if they wanted to use it for drinking water.

Pierini expressed concern that Indian Hills might lose the water rights they have in the well.

Under the plan approved by the district, Douglas County and Carson City, a pipeline that already exists would be extended along Heybourne Road north to Carson City in the first phase. In the second phase of the project, a second, 30-inch pipeline, would follow Highway 395 north to Johnson Lane and then meet the other pipeline.

Humble asked why the 30-inch pipeline couldn't be extended north to Indian Hills and shorten the pipeline the district had to build.

Randall said that option was not proposed by Manhard, the county's consultant on the project.