(Pottawattamie Co) The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors received a report on the findings of the Riverside Water Study.
Brenda Mainwaring, President and CEO of Iowa West Foundation, stated that water is clearly a significant issue for all communities in Pottawattamie County. When they launched the Vibrant Rural Communities grant program, they received water-related requests from Oakland, Carson, and Macedonia. In response, Iowa West Foundation funded a water study conducted by McClure Engineering. CJ Gross, Project Manager with McClure, explained that the study was carried out in two phases, with the first phase assessing the condition and capacity of the three communities.
Gross said Carson has four wells, one deeper Dakota Aquifer well and three shallow wells. He said they can meet their current demand, but they can’t meet their projected future demand.
As far as Oakland…
Gross noted that Carson had discussed implementing a connected system with Oakland. However, based on conversations between the two communities, there is little interest in pursuing that idea.
Gross said that Carson and Oakland already have engineers involved in developing a water treatment plant and are moving forward with their own systems. He noted that Macedonia is struggling the most among the three, as it cannot supply enough water to its residents.
Ultimately, Gross stated that they are proposing a combined water system for Carson and Macedonia. He said it is now up to the two communities to determine whether they are interested in pursuing this joint system. If they are, their findings indicate that it would be feasible, with an estimated cost exceeding two million dollars.
