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.