Jordanelle growth distressing Heber
The controversy centers on the county's only wastewater treatment facility, capable of treating the effluent of nearly 4,400 connections.
Yet Scott Wright, manager of the Heber Valley Special District, the agency overseeing wastewater treatment, said the current system is already operating above capacity. It currently treats the wastewater of Heber Valley's 4,600 homes most of the connections in Midway and Heber cities.
And although Heber's current facility is capable of expanding to nearly double its present capacity the district recently purchased 45 acres of property for expansion most future connections were anticipated to come from growth within Heber and Midway cities, not pricey second homes in Jordanelle.
"The kind of connections that they are expecting to build out in Jordanelle, there is no way we can handle it," Wright warns.
If Wright is correct, big trouble looms based on Jordanelle's master plan, which calls for nearly 13,000 units to overlook the reservoir in the next 20 years.
According to some engineering estimates, more than 2,700 Jordanelle connections could be tied to Heber's facility by 2005. In addition, a main trunk line tying Jordanelle to Heber Valley has the capacity of handling the reservoir's west-side growth, where more than 6,000 units are planned.
But Wright contends Heber Valley Special District never agreed to handle the wastewater of thousands of Jordanelle units.
"According to what was given to us (in 1998), there were only going to be 1,640 connections coming out of Jordanelle in the next 20 years," Wright said.
Building a new treatment plant is easier said than done and faces several hurdles.
Heber's current facility was designed as an aerated, land-application treatment process where semitreated wastewater is sprinkled over nearly 400 acres of alfalfa fields, averting a discharge into the sensitive Provo River and Deer Creek Reservoir.
"That basically removes the phosphorous and nitrogen because they are taken up in the crops," said Jay Pitkin, assistant director of the state's Division of Water Quality.
"They are very sensitive about phosphates in the Provo River drainage," Wright said.
In fact, regional plans stemming from the Federal Clean Water Act prohibit any surface discharges into the Provo drainage, Pitkin said.
Comments
- S.L. man spots stolen car — his 1:23 a.m.
- Girl critical after run-in with train 1:23 a.m.
- Probe of death treated as slaying 1:22 a.m.
- Taylorsville man arrested in robbery 1:21 a.m.
- HBO defends U. logo use in 'Love' 1:20 a.m.
- Beelines 1:19 a.m.
- Minus stars, Bees still down Sky Sox 1:19 a.m.
- Desperate Mets trade OF Church 1:19 a.m.
- Niemann pitches Rays past the A's 1:08 a.m.
- Giants' Sanchez tosses no-hitter 1:07 a.m.
- LDS seminary principal arrested
- Jazz brass debate Millsap match
- Reactions on Boozer speculation
- Teacher faces new sex charges
- Jazz talking Boozer trade?
- Jazz down Oklahoma City
- 2 Tooele police officers fired
- BYU professor to work on Hebrew Bible
- Dems: tax the rich for health care
- Baseball teams fear 'haunted' hotel
- LDS seminary principal arrested
142 - Bronco collecting a galaxy of recruits
141 - Jazz talking Boozer trade?
136 - Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
123 - Stadium of Fire flag burning was fake
94 - Jazz brass debate Millsap match
88 - Fairness of BCS debated
81 - Chaffetz eyes challenging Bennett
74 - Letters: Single-payer system best
72 - Services bids farewell to Jackson
70
As more and more dads are put out of work in this economy, I've been...
The photographs are mysterious, brooding, dark. They show dimples and...
Didn't Obama and Biden just admit to the fact that the stimilus programs were...
The last part of the article about Cowherd is classic!!! I normally like the...
This man was my teacher in high school. He is my friend, he was like a father...
I like millsap, but portland just burried themselves. They made themselves...
It's amazing how quickly society is willing to vaccinate it's children with...
The first income tax was introduced during the Civil War, that's only 70...
If he really did what the evidence seems to show, I don't think he should be...
Utah needs Portland too much. It's much harder than you think to find good...
stacy, have you ever eaten there ??
I had Brother Pratt at Viewmont High School my sophomore year... I was really...



You can be the first to comment on this story.