To comply with the Clean Water Act and mandates by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice and the State of Indiana, the City of
Evansville is finalizing its plan to make dramatic improvements to Evansville’s sewer system and reduce sewer system overflows. This week, the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility (EWSU) is sharing the updated plans for Renew Evansville, one of the largest capital improvement projects in Evansville’s history, at public meetings in each of the city’s six wards.
Renew Evansville will significantly upgrade Evansville’s sewer infrastructure and resolve many problems that result from a centuryâ€old system. Renew Evansville has already led to dramatic operational improvements and will also address combined sewer overflows into the Ohio River and Pigeon Creek and overflows in the separate sanitary sewer system. During rain events or snow melt, rain water overwhelms the capacity of the pipes in the combined sewer system and, by design, causes the excess water and sewage to overflow into local bodies of water – the
Ohio River and Pigeon Creek in Evansville.
The last of many reports submitted to state and federal regulators – the final Integrated Overflow Control Plan (IOCP) – is due May 31, 2013. EWSU is proposing a 28â€year, $540 million plan, to be constructed through the year 2040. Upon submission, state and federal regulators will review and respond to the plan.
“The City has been working on the IOCP for nearly three years,†said Allen Mounts, director of the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility. “Thus far, the project team has submitted more than 75 reports and updates to EPA as part of developing the plan to bring our sewer system up to state and federal standards. The Utility and the City are sensitive to the significant cost of this project and the impact it will have on our customers. We are carefully assessing the demands of controlling combined sewer overflows and meeting the Clean Water Act with the community’s ability to fund the project. We have thoughtfully considered the financial health of our community in proposing the elements of the plan and the schedule for making the sewer system upgrades,†he said.
Under the federal consent decree, approved by a federal court in June 2011, EWSU’s original deadline for the final IOCP was Nov. 30, 2012. However, in 2011, while EWSU was collecting data, Evansville experienced the wettest year on record. To ensure the plan was built based on average precipitation, EWSU asked for another six months to collect additional data during more typical rain events and snow falls. Whereas the 2011 analysis projected the city would have to address more than 3 billion gallons of combined sewer overflows per year, the updated analysis from data collected in late 2012 forecasted that Evansville’s CSO activations total closer to 2 billion gallons per year.
Mounts added, “Collecting better data allowed us to rightâ€size our solutions and, ultimately, the additional analysis has decreased our estimated cost for the program by $66 million, easing some of the impact on ratepayers.â€
The IOCP includes specific solutions to address Evansville’s combined sewer overflows, the schedule for implementing these changes and financing options. The plan includes both traditional solutions to expand current pipe and sewer capacity, as well as green solutions to remove stormwater from the combined sewer system, including a large wetland to eliminate Bee Slough as a wastewater holding structure.
Completed improvements
EWSU has already implemented more than 20 improvements to operations and maintenance. Some of the most significant improvements have been to EWSU’s two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), which treat an average of 15 to 20 million gallons of wastewater a day during dry weather. Prior to 2010, the west WWTP processed 21 million gallons per day and the east WWTP processed 18 million gallons per day during a large rain event. Today, through capital projects, improvements to the pumping technology and enhanced operations, those same
plants treat 37 million gallons and 26 million gallons a day, respectively, during wetâ€weather conditions.
Proposed improvements
EWSU has studied and developed a recommended plan that addresses the need to reduce combined sewer system and sanitary sewer system overflows in the most economical way possible. The capital improvement needs of the system include:
 Creating a wetland in an area near Bee Slough to eliminate Evansville’s largest outfalls and the health risks the slough poses;
ï‚· Adding storage facilities and constructing a new lift station at 7th Ave.;
ï‚· Separating sewers in certain areas of the system;
ï‚· Expanding the east wastewater treatment plant; and
ï‚· Implementing green and sustainable infrastructure.
Timing and financial details of the plan
In balancing meeting EPA regulations and affordability of the plan, EWSU will propose a 28â€year plan outlining the use of costâ€effective, rightâ€size solutions that aim to capture 92 percent of combined sewer overflows. The total cost of the plan is $540 million. During the first 20 years, the Integrated Overflow Control Plan is estimated to cost $373 million, but will not achieve the results targeted by EPA. The City is required to show the EPA what can be accomplished in the first 20 years. The City’s plan will take approximately eight more years at a projected cost of $167 million, making the total cost of implementing the plan $540 million.
Under this plan, EWSU will be forced to increase sewer rates over the life of the plan to fund the plan, as well as the ongoing operational and capital needs of the Utility. Rate increases are not expected to exceed 2 percent of Evansville’s median household income.
Community members are invited to submit comments and questions during public meetings this week (schedule can be found on www.RenewEvansville.com) or online at
www.RenewEvansville.com using the “Contact Us†link on the left side of the page. For more information or a copy of the draft plan, visit www.RenewEvansville.com.
