Not a waste: Prinevile plans cost-saving wetland project

The city of Prineville says it has come up with a plan to both better deal with wastewater and add more recreation, in a unique pairing it says will save millions of dollars.

In December. the city will go out for bid on a project to dump wastewater on 160 acres of city-owned land near its water treatment facility. The city also plans to construct several miles of trails on the land historically closed to the public.

Once complete, Prineville will be one of the only cities in the state with a treatment plant that also doubles as a wetland.

“We’re definitely on the cutting edge,” City Engineer Eric Klann said Monday. “It allows us to discharge (water) year-round and dispose of more water per acre. We’ll take the water and run in through a treatment wetland, and then it will go to the disposal wetland.”

It’s a six-year project that’s become a unique solution to a growing problem: Prineville is running low on space to dump wastewater. Currently it goes to the golf course and irrigation pivots that distribute the water.

City leaders considered spending $62 million to build a mechanical treatment plant.

“We knew our rates would skyrocket,” Prineville Mayor Betty Roppe said. “If we had to raise our system development charge fees, we couldn’t be competitive with the rest of Central Oregon for new business and new homes.”

Creating the wetland will cost a fraction of that price — less than $9 million — and nearly half will be grant-funded from various agencies.

The wetland also will feature paved trails, educational kiosks, restrooms and a pavilion.

“That why we were able to secure a good deal of grants,” Klann said. “Unfortunately in Crook County and Prineville, there really is no places to actively recreate. There’s not a whole lot of trails, and so by adding 5 1/2 miles of trails — about half of them will be paved — that’s great for our community.”

The project is also expected to benefit wildlife.

“There’s about two miles of the Crooked River where we’re going to pull the banks back, let it wander — that will greatly increase the success of the steelhead,” Klann said.

The city has worked closely with the Crooked River Watershed Council on the plans.

“The project has two primary elements, one being the wetlands that are are on the upland, and then the floodplain along the river corridor,” said CRWC Director Chris Gannon.

“We’re interested in both elements, but we have a little bit more excitement in the floodplain piece. That’s primarily because the river in this section below Prineville, that habitat for fish in particular — it looks the same mile to mile to mile.”

“The river is lacking diversity, and we want to add some diversity, and free up the river to move around a little bit at high flows,” Gannon added.

Klann said one of the biggest concerns is the wetlands will likely draw and breed more mosquitoes.

“That’s something that we’ve worked very, very closely with the vector control district,” Klann said. “We made sure none of the grants would preclude us from being able to treat the vectors.”

Project construction is expected to start in January. The work will take about two years to complete.

“I’m excited,” Roppe said. “It’s going to be a win-win for everybody.”