Samples gauge stormwater system's worth

Taking a water sample from a storm drain after a major rain or snow melt event is not an easy task.

Volunteers aren’t an option because of liability issues. Sample-grabbers need to be certified and need to be able to get to Bigfork drains within one hour of the start of the weather event.

Bigfork’s Stormwater Advisory Committee has gone several months without having a way to gather samples from the new stormwater system. Now two engineering firms have submitted proposals to complete the work to Flathead County commissioners.

“We need someone to do some spring testing to compare to pre-testing,” BSAC Chair Susan Hanson told county commissioners last Wednesday.

The only way to gauge the effectiveness of the system is to compare samples taken before the $1.3 million system was installed with current samples. The sampling results will show how many pollutants the system removes before the stormwater is discharged into the bay.

Testing is also one of the steps BSAC needs to take before they can complete the project by adding new stormwater systems to Bridge Street. The two systems that need to be installed on Bridge Street would total up to $1.3 million.

“We just want to know the performance of what we put in,” Vice Chairman David Christensen said, “And be able to show the community.”

Both engineering firms are from Kalispell, Stelling Engineers, Inc. and Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc. The sampling analysis would cost between $2,000-3,000.

County commissioners need to approve one of the proposals in order for sampling to begin.

Spring is the best time to take samples because the water levels are low and the weather is wet and warm.

Pre-test samples taken from Bigfork’s bay by the Flathead Lake Biological Station in 1996 sparked the start of the stormwater project. The samples showed that too many pollutants were being discharged into the bay.

In order for the stormwater project to reach completion, a rural special improvement district will need to be created. BSAC expects to send out a survey on the RSID similar to the one they mailed out at the beginning of the year. Survey results will determine whether or not the committee will recommend implementation of an RSID to the commissioners.

RSIDs are used to finance infrastructure improvements. According to state law, a RSID can’t be formed if 40 percent or more of the affected landowners protest it. The RSID would pay for the Bridge Street system.

Up until now the project has been funded with county money and grants from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

BSAC board members hope testing will prove the effectiveness of the new stormwater system. In turn, the community would be more likely to support passage of an RSID for the remainder of the project, members say.

The next BSAC meeting will take place at noon on April 25 at Bethany Lutheran Church.