Guest Opinion: Lakeside water and sewer is being proactive

I appreciate the concerns raised regarding recent rate increases for Lakeside County Water and Sewer District customers raised by James Mathieu of Somers. As a professional engineer practicing professional engineering for over 40 years, licensed to practice in several states, I share those concerns and I and members of the Montana Environmental Consultant Association always analyze and consider the technical design and the cost to the users for each engineering project undertaken before offering a professional opinion.

Based on my experience with the district, no one on the district board takes rate increases lightly. In fact, it is fair to acknowledge that some rate adjustments should have occurred earlier and more gradually over time. Like many utilities across Montana and the nation, the Lakeside district faces the reality of rising construction costs, inflation, increased regulatory requirements, aging infrastructure and the need to maintain reserves for future capital improvements.

What is often missing from the discussion is that the district has consistently invested in wastewater treatment improvements to protect Flathead Lake and the surrounding environment. For more than four decades, the district has played a critical role in reducing nutrient loading from individual septic systems and improving water quality in one of Montana’s most treasured natural resources.

Recent claims have suggested that the current wastewater treatment upgrades are being driven by one or two development projects. That is simply not accurate. The district began evaluating expansion and treatment facility improvements years before anyone had heard of the Discovery development proposal or the Steamboat Landing project and well before Flathead County approached the district about partnering on a countywide septage receiving facility. 

The need for improvements was identified through engineering studies, capacity evaluations and long-term planning efforts that recognized both aging infrastructure and increasing regulatory requirements.

Another important fact is that regulatory changes and updated design standards from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality significantly affected the district’s long-term options. Earlier concepts focused on expanding the existing lagoon-based treatment approach. However, increased setback requirements, site limitations, and the extensive ground improvements necessary to construct additional lagoons made that option increasingly impractical and costly. Those factors ultimately led engineers and the district to pursue a modern treatment process with a much smaller footprint, higher treatment efficiency, improved environmental performance, and greater long-term reliability.

While rate increases are never welcome, it is important to remember that the alternative is often more expensive. Deferring infrastructure investment typically results in larger future costs, emergency repairs, regulatory challenges and greater financial burdens on future ratepayers. 

Anybody, who thinks that ratepayer fees will never go up by not maintaining or upgrading your system to meet current standards is sadly mistaken. Aging infrastructure across the United States is a major concern of the engineering community as has been highlighted loudly by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The district is doing the right thing to be proactive in addressing their aging infrastructure and upgrading their systems to meet current standards.

In my professional opinion, the district’s goal has remained consistent: provide reliable wastewater service, protect public health, preserve Flathead Lake and make investments that will serve the community for decades to come. Reasonable people can disagree about specific decisions, but the record clearly shows these improvements are the result of long-term planning and environmental stewardship — not a “knee jerk” reaction to any single development project.

The Lakeside district is one of the best if not the best public sewer and water system districts I have ever worked with. I have experience with many public sewer and water system entities across numerous counties and states, which gives me years of experience to make this conclusion.

Jeff H. Larsen lives in Lakeside. He is a member of the Montana Environmental Consultants Association.