MECA (the Montana Excavator Contractors Association) is a statewide group of consultants working together with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on sewer, water and storm drain rules, regulations and statutes. MECA has members or participants that are professional engineers, sanitarians, hydrologists, hydrogeologists and soil scientists. MECA members have well over 150 years of combined experience in sewer system consulting, analysis, design and DEQ submittals including non-degradation analysis of high-quality water bodies.
Members of our group have reviewed and strongly approve of the Lakeside County Water and Sewer District’s proposed wastewater system upgrades, including the Phase 2 treatment facility and the already approved septage receiving facility.
The new septage receiving facility will provide a safe, centralized, and regulated solution for handling septage. The project improvements will provide the necessary infrastructure that will ensure long-term reliability, regulatory compliance, and protection of public health. The current system is nearing capacity and cannot adequately meet projected growth or manage increasing wastewater and septage demands. These upgrades will significantly improve water quality. The new treatment facility is designed to achieve substantially higher levels of treatment, reducing contaminants and providing stronger protection for Flathead Lake and surrounding groundwater resources for future generations.
The project also reflects a fiscally responsible approach. By leveraging substantial grant funding and public partnerships, the District is able to minimize the financial burden on local ratepayers while still delivering critical infrastructure improvements.
The Lakeside sewer system is an award-winning system and is one of the best systems in the state because it doesn’t directly discharge into a surface water body. The system currently uses lagoons to store wastewater and the wastewater is spray irrigated from the lagoons onto a field. Therefore, the current system is a more sustainable and environmentally protective solution than a system that directly discharges into a surface water body. The proposed new improvements to the system will make the system even better than it is now by using SBR technology to treat the effluent to a higher level than it is now before it is discharged. The new system will utilize a combination of spray irrigation and gravity infiltration ponds after the advanced treatment of the wastewater has taken place.
While construction may result in temporary disruptions, the long-term benefits—improved water quality, system reliability, environmental protection, and support for responsible community growth—far outweigh these short-term impacts.
We respectfully urge the community to join in our support for the Lakeside County Water and Sewer District and its proposed improvements.
Jeff H. Larsen is a Montana licensed professional engineer and the vice president of MECA.