(Arnolds Park)– We may be blessed with lakes, but there’s growing concern that as explosive growth continues, it’s just a matter of time before a lack of treated water catches up. One community, Spirit Lake, has already outgrown the capacity of its water treatment plant. And officials say it’s just a matter of time before Central Water, a treatment facility that provides drinking water to Arnolds Park and Okoboji, reches its capacity. In addition to capacity issues, new state and federal guidelines are resulting in the need to upgrade equipment in the plants.
With those factors in mind, the board of directors of Central Water System say perhaps it’s time to look into the feasibility of building a regional water treatment facility that would serve all three communities. Larry Stoller, a representative of the Central Water board, was at Wednesday’s Arnolds Park City Council meeting regarding the issue. Stoller made a similar presentation Tuesday to the Okoboji City Council. It was the concensus of both councils for Central Water to proceed with a study and report back.
The city of Spirit Lake is already doing studies on is capacity and projections for future demand. That infomation will be included in the study.
Time is of the essence as far as Spirit Lake is concerned. In order to apply for state funding for a new water tower, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has issued a consent order requiring the city to increase capacity at its water treatment plant. Contruction must get underway by 2008 with the new plant up and operational in 2010.
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