By the time the dust — and the paperwork — settled after this spring's Montana Legislature in Helena, the view from the Bigfork Water and Sewer Department was decidedly green. More than $1 million in grant money had been awarded for the next phase of its plant upgrades.

The money will go toward the second phase in the plant's upgrades, which will center on a membrane bio reactor, a few million dollar piece of machinery that will help the department meet the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's forthcoming stricter standards.

"Our old permit expired two years ago and we don't know when the new standards will come out or how long we'll have to get in compliance," said district manager Julie Spencer. "That's why we're planning already and have been for three years."

The grants came from the Treasure State Endowment Program ($750,000), the Army Corps of Engineers ($170,000) and the Renewable Resource grant program from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation ($100,000).

The membrane bio reactor is a multi-million dollar filtration system that will significantly increase the Bigfork facility's ability to scrub wastewater before discharging it into Flathead Lake.

"We're well within our permit guidelines," Spencer said. "But higher nitrogen standards will be in the next one and our plant isn't equipped for that."

Spencer said stricter standards concerning allowable levels of phosphorous were also expected in the new regulations, which also necessitate updated equipment.

Though Spencer said solid cost estimates for the upgrades are still pending a little research, she estimated the project will end up running between $4 and $5 million. Some of that cost will hopefully be borne by voters, whom she said will likely be asked to consider a bond assessment around November of this year. She added that many of the grants are renewable either yearly or every two years and that the district will continue to apply.

For the first phase of the upgrades — a new headworks facility that was completed over the winter and cost $2 million — the department tacked on a $5 per month rate increase for all sewer hookups.

Spencer said construction of the second phase should begin in late winter or early spring 2010 and be online by 2011.

The sewer district was also awarded $30,000 in grant money to conduct a comprehensive survey of the lines and capacity in the district boundaries.

"This will give us numbers of how many hydrants, valves, feet of pipe and sizes of pipe we have," Spencer said. "It's nice to know those numbers because if someone wants to add a subdivision out there we can figure out if mains can carry supply or do we need another storage tank."