Joint Well Field, Inc. C462454-01 DATE Wednesday, May 26, 2021 CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION DETERMINATION FOR THE PROPOSED PROJECT IN BROOKINGS COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA

Joint Well Field, Inc.

C462454-01

DATE Wednesday, May 26, 2021

CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION

DETERMINATION

FOR THE PROPOSED PROJECT IN BROOKINGS COUNTY,

SOUTH DAKOTA

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) has conducted a review of a proposal from Joint Well Field, Inc., located in Brookings County to make improvements to its water treatment plant and increase storage capacity.  

Joint Well Field, Inc. is a jointly owned and operated water source and treatment facility that serves both Brookings-Deuel Rural Water System and Kingbrook Rural Water System. The Joint Well Field, Inc. water treatment system is currently operating near plant pumping capacity during peak periods and is expected to need additional pumping capacity to meet current and future water demands. Joint Well Field, Inc. is proposing to make improvements to its water treatment plant including a new high-service pump building, a new ground storage reservoir, and new backwash ponds.

This project will construct a new pump building housing to initially house five pumps to improve the capacity. As demand increases, additional pumps will be housed in the proposed building and allow Joint Well Field, Inc. to serve each rural water system individually on separate discharge headers. 

A 1.2 million-gallon ground storage reservoir is proposed to increase the onsite storage capacity of the water treatment plant and provide redundancy for the system. The proposed tank will be 101 feet in diameter with a sidewall height of 20 feet.

Two new backwash are proposed to replace the existing ponds, which are undersized. Preliminary pond design calls for two infiltration ponds measuring 365 feet long by 92 feet wide with a depth of 8 feet. This project will include site piping, electrical components, valves, fittings, concrete, and all other necessary appurtenances associated with pump, building, water storage tank, and treatment pond construction.

Joint Well Field, Inc. was awarded a $5,523,000 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan (2.125 percent - 30 years) for this project. Repayment of the SRF loan will be from water system revenues. Current water rates for bulk users are $1.10 per 1,000 gallons. Water rates of $1.17 per 1,000 gallons will generate sufficient revenue to provide the required debt coverage for the SRF loan.

Listed below are the reasons for granting a categorical exclusion:

1. No comments requiring mitigative action were received from the South Dakota Historical Society, South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks, United States Department of Interior, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Natural Resource Conservation Service, or through the public participation process;

2. The project is solely directed toward minor rehabilitation of existing facilities, functional replacement of equipment, or towards the construction of new ancillary facilities adjacent or appurtenant to existing facilities; and

The proposed action does not involve any serious local objections nor does it meet any of the criteria for not granting a categorical exclusion as specified in Section 6.505(c) (i) through (iii) of 40 CFR Part 6, Subpart E.

The project area will not have any adverse effect any archaeological or historic resources. In the event of an archaeological or historic resource being unearthed during construction, the immediate stoppage of work would be required by the contract specifications.  The new improvements should have no adverse effect on plant life or wildlife.  This project as outlined will have no impact on prime or important farmland. No other environmentally sensitive issues have been identified in the planning of this project. Minor noise, air pollution, and soil erosion problems will occur during construction, but these will be only temporary in nature.

The review process did not indicate that significant environmental impacts would result from the proposed projects. Consequently, a preliminary decision not to prepare an EIS has been made.  This action is taken on the basis of a careful review of the engineering report, environmental information documents, correspondence with responsible governmental agencies and other supporting data which are on file at the Division of Financial and Technical Assistance, Environmental Funding Program, DANR, Pierre, South Dakota, and are available for public scrutiny at the Brookings-Deuel Rural Water System office, 47602 SD Highway 28, Toronto, South Dakota.

Comments supporting or disagreeing with this decision may be submitted for consideration by DANR after publication of the Categorical Exclusion Determination.  After evaluating the comments received, DANR will make a final decision.

/s/ Michael A. Perkovich

Administrator