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The Sheridan County
Conservation District (SCCD) has funding
available to provide cost-share assistance to
landowners wishing to make improvements to
septic systems in Sheridan County. This
assistance is one component of an overall water
resources program. The purpose of this
component is to encourage proper design,
installation, and maintenance of septic systems
that will assist in reducing water quality
impacts from septic systems. Although not
required, an information and education
component, which might include a tour of the
site, will be encouraged as a way to facilitate
broad-scale change throughout the watershed.
As part of this program,
technical assistance from the SCCD and USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) partnership
will be provided to assist in the self-assessment,
design, and installation of septic systems.
Other qualified personnel may be used for technical
support. All work must meet requirements
outlined in the Sheridan County
Regulations for a Permit to Construct, Install or
Modify Small Wastewater Facilities and Related
Design Standards and the Wyoming Department of
Environmental Quality (WDEQ) Wyoming Water
Quality Rules and Regulations Chapter 3.
SCCD/NRCS staff will work with the selected
applicants to develop a contract and budget, design
an appropriate system, obtain the necessary permits,
and install the system. The contract will be
between the landowner and the SCCD.
Applications to the program will be accepted continually with batching periods
advertised as needed. Individuals not selected in one batching period will
have the option of renewing their application for the next period.
Applications will be
prioritized and selected by a steering committee,
which consists of personnel from the SCCD, NRCS,
WDEQ City of Sheridan, Sheridan County, engineers,
and contractors. The SCCD Board of Supervisors
will make the final approval decision on all
projects based on recommendations from the Steering
Committee.
The Steering Committee will
base decisions on consensus rather than majority
vote. The Water Resources Program, including
the septic system improvements component is based on
water quality improvements. All projects are
evaluated in light of the overall benefit to water
quality. Other factors, such as financial need
will not be used as criteria. The following basic
criteria will be used when prioritizing
applications.
Location of the system in proximity to an impaired
or other surface waterbody. Systems
within 200 feet of a surface water body will
generally receive a higher priority. Other
circumstances, such as steep terrain or obvious
discharge (via straight pipe or system failure) that
indicate a high probability that wastewater is
reaching the waterbody will also receive a higher
priority.
An assessment of the system’s
risk or need for improvement.
Systems that appear to have the greatest impact on
surface water quality will generally receive a
higher priority. This assessment includes
information on the distance to surface and
groundwater sources; the age, type, and condition of
the system components; and other pertinent site
conditions. A self-assessment form is
available from the SCCD/NRCS office.
The
density of individual systems or the ability of an
individual improvement to impact water quality.
Areas that will likely benefit from individual
septic system improvements may receive higher
priority than areas where the expansion of sewer
lines is expected within the next 5 years or areas
where the density of individual systems lend
themselves more to a centralized treatment system
(such as Story or Big Horn). There may be some
cases in these areas where an individual system
improvement may increase awareness and encourage
residents to consider centralized systems. |
