HAYDEN - The Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board is considering four options in response to new federal water-quality requirements for water that's treated and discharged into the Spokane River.

At 3 p.m. Thursday, at Hayden City Hall, the sewer board will conduct a public meeting to receive comments regarding those options.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring the sewer board's treatment facility in Hayden to undergo improvements. It must meet significantly higher water-quality standards in the near future in order to continue discharging reuse water into the river.

Reuse water treated at the plant, located at 10789 N. Atlas Road in Hayden, discharges into the river for a portion of the year and is applied to sewer board land to irrigate trees and alfalfa fields during the growing season.

The sewer board provides wastewater treatment service to the city of Hayden, the Hayden Lake Recreation Water and Sewer District and the Kootenai County airport.

Ken Windram, administrator of the treatment facility, said the sewer board recognizes the long-term financial impact the treatment improvements will have on the citizens it serves.

"The board hopes the citizens will take time to attend the meeting and learn more about their wastewater future," Windram said.

Option one: The sewer board could take no action and risk paying $37,500 per day in EPA fines until the current water-quality standards are returned to the 1999 permit levels. That would be costly, as the 2013 approved sewer board operating budget was only $1.7 million.

Option two: Treatment facility improvements could be made to allow for year-round discharge into the river, and to the current water reuse system. These 20-year treatment improvements would cost an estimated $53 million. The first 10 years is estimated to cost $27.5 million, and would be shared by the three sewer-board entities. The second 10 years of construction costs would be shared by those with new connections to the system, and not existing users.

Option 3: Additional treatment facility improvements (the same as Option two), plus storage and additional land for expanded water reuse to eliminate discharge to the river during the entire growing season. The additional land-cost estimate is $13 million. The total would reach $66 million when added to the second option treatment improvement costs.

Option 4: Additional treatment facility improvements for year-round river discharge, eliminate land application and sell the current water reuse farm land. The cost estimate for this option is $40 million, but has a $3.1 million higher estimated operating and maintenance costs compared with the second option. The land could not be sold for 10 years until the treatment system fully meets the new EPA standards.