Cheyenne BOPU Director Unveils Water, Sewer Rate Request Plans

Cheyenne BOPU Director Brad Brooks says the agency will ask for a $3 per month increase in base fees for water users and $2 per month for sewer customers, effective October 1 of this year.

But the agency is not asking for any new fees on volume of consumption for water or sewer users, so those rates will remain the same, assuming the Cheyenne City Council signs off on the proposal.

Brooks made the comments in an interview on the Weekend In Wyoming program on AM 650, KGAB.

No Increase In Fees On Water Consumption Planned

''And so those are the only increases that we are doing this year to any bills. As far as any water usage and consumption, people should expect to pay the. same cost per thousand that they had last year," Brooks said.

BOPU Also Facing Possible Long-term Water Challenges

Brooks also spoke about possible long-term challenges Cheyenne could face if it sees a reduction in water from the Colorado River system.

The reduction could happen because of an ongoing drought that may reduce the amount of water available from the Colorado River. But Brooks says he thinks Cheyenne probably has three years or so before it might face a reduction.

Brooks says negotiations are ongoing among several Colorado River water states to discuss possible adjustments in water usage. He says he thinks an agreement might be finalized by the end of next year,

Brooks said Cheyenne typically uses about 14,000 acre feet of water per year. He says the city typically gets 50 to 70 percent of that a year from the Little Snake River, which is part of the Colorado River system. The Little Snake drains into the Yampa which drains into the Green River. The Green drains in turn into the Colorado River.

He says the water from the Little Snake is traded for water from Rob Roy Reservoir where Cheyenne stores water for drinking water.

''If we were to lose that, we've estimated that probably with all of the resources we have in town...we estimate that we would have to come up with about 7,000 acre feet just to make the city whole, just to operate, to continue operating the way we are operating."

Brooks says to prepare for a possible reduction, Cheyenne is looking at possible other sources of water to make up for a possible reduction in water from the Colorado River system.

He says he's optimistic the BOPU can find enough new sources of water combined with some possible conservation measures to compensate for a possible cut in Colorado River Water.

You can hear the entire interview with Brad Brooks in the attached audio file.