Archived Story
County gets grant for septic study
by JOHN CRAMER - Ravalli Republic
Much of Ravalli County’s drinking water isn’t far below ground, making it vulnerable to sewage contamination.

But the county hopes to do a better job of protecting that groundwater by using a $100,000 federal grant to create a science-based model to evaluate the installation of new septic systems.

“We hear a lot of questions from the community about groundwater protection, but we don’t have enough data at this point,” said Lea Jordan, the county’s Environmental Health director. “We need more studies to answer those questions and I’m hoping this model will provide those answers.”

The grant comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was recently awarded to the county by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The project, which will include water and soil samples and other data, is expected to start in August and be complete by March 2011.

Ravalli County desperately needs scientific information to make informed decisions about water management planning and development, Jordan said.

“Decisions affecting the future of groundwater and surface water can not be made without scientific understanding of the vulnerability of the resource,” she said.

The project’s goal is to build upon completed projects, creating a new model to estimate the potential impact from proposed septic systems on groundwater quality in three to four areas.

The study areas, which haven’t been selected, will be those that are especially vulnerable to septic contamination, such as places under high development pressure.

A consultant will select the areas to be studied and will train county staff to carry on the work after the two-year project is completed.

The project is intended to create a baseline of nitrate data, which will be used to model the amount of nitrate loading the three to four areas can support without degrading water quality.

The model will be used to try to reduce septic pollution in streams as well as drinking wells.

The Bitterroot Valley’s 40,500 residents get their drinking water from an aquifer that is shallow in many areas.

Many of those areas also have septic systems, which discharge their wastewater into the same groundwater.

More than 75 percent of county residents live in single-family homes with individual wells and septic systems.

Jordan said the cumulative impact of the large number of septic systems on small lots may play a large part in water quality degradation.

Using the model, county commissioners, planners and environmental health staffers can better evaluate how much septic discharge a proposed building site can safely handle, Jordan said.

Some areas could be ruled off limits, while other subdivision proposals could be changed to include fewer houses, community drain fields or different septic treatments, she said.

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Reporter John Cramer can be reached at 363-3300 or jcramer@ravallirepublic.com.

Reader's Comments >>

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TJ wrote on Jun 8, 2009 10:51 AM:

" Isn't there something ironic about this? The sanitarian wants better septic systems, yet the people who pump those systems are allowed to discharge that same waste onto open grond?? "

Frenchie wrote on Jun 8, 2009 8:19 AM:

" Farmer, did you do your duty and give the address' to the sanitarian?If you didn't then your part of the problem. Or could it be that you are not being truthful? "

farmerziffel wrote on Jun 8, 2009 1:26 AM:

" Enforcing the building permits will help, but it griped me when I saw turds and toilet paper floating on properties during the last flood along the East Side Highway. Great article by the way and one can only hope - take a drive up Ambrose and see the for sale signs. Perhaps a sign of things to come when developers are lurking around... "