Rural Water Responds

This article was originally published in the Q4 2022 Edition of the Rural Water Magazine.

In 2022, states across the nation experienced the devastating impacts of severe weather, including record flooding. Through these disasters, the Rural Water family came together to help the affected systems continue to provide safe drinking water and clean wastewater to their communities.

MONTANA

In June, south central Montana received five and a half inches of snow fall, an abnormal amount this time of year. Coupled with subsequent rain, the snowmelt caused flooding throughout the state. About 50 communities were contacted by the state to check their utility systems and one facility's wastewater lagoon was damaged beyond repair.

The governor made a verbal declaration of emergency for three counties affected by the flooding, said John Camden, executive director of Montana Rural Water Systems (MRWS). Roadways were washed out, private homes were lost, bridges were damaged or destroyed, and most towns in affected areas were left without running water. This was a 1,000-year flood, according to officials.

According to a Public Water Supply Emergency Situation Update for June 13 to July 12, 2022, towns and ski resorts just outside of Yellowstone National Park shut down their main water lines as a precaution due to flooding and impending exposure to the main line and breakage. The town of Fromberg experienced a temporary failure of its chlorination system but was able to make a permanent repair. Several other towns experienced shut offs and boil advisories out of precaution, according to the report. Just a week after the flood, most systems had five satisfactory samples and were back up and running, Camden said, and part of that was due to the help MRWS offered.

As a part of the flood response, MRWS worked in coordination with the Department of Environmental Quality to help systems repair damage to their water and wastewater systems.

"We had boots-on-the-ground staff who were vital for getting help to operators," Camden said. "Staff would go [to systems] and help figure out dosages, inspect wells, or collect samples to just provide that extra support."

Dennis Eaton, MRWS Circuit Rider, called around to smaller communities to offer assistance where it was needed, since most of FEMA's emergency response efforts were focused on larger cities that were affected.

"I didn't want to just show up places and get in the way, so I would call around to see which places needed help," Eaton said.

Getting water back on during a disaster is critical, he said. When a flood occurs, electrical appliances can short out and cause fires. Eaton said while having drinking water restored quickly is important, it is most important to have running water to protect towns in case of a fire.

In addition to repairing pipes and turning water on, part of the flood response also included inspecting wastewater treatment facilities and lagoons.

MRWS Wastewater Technician Robin Franzen assisted the town of Edgar, which has a total population of 114, with its wastewater lagoon.

Franzen went out on a boat to inspect the lagoon and discovered there was mud and sediment in the bottom of the pond. In addition to sediment, severe erosion impacted the lagoon. He was glad to help get the immediate issues fixed with the lagoon but said an engineer would need to inspect the damage and determine next steps for repairing the intermediate needs.

"The best part is being able to help somebody when they don't have anywhere else to turn," Franzen said. "We have pretty good resources for the people who know what to do and who to call."

The residents in the communities MRWS assisted were more than grateful, Eaton said. They were wading through flood waters to offer food and words of encouragement. Some even opened their homes to volunteers needing a place to stay during the cleanup.

"All I can say is, I am thoroughly impressed with the people of small towns," Eaton said.

During this time of devastation, MRWS witnessed firsthand how the people of Montana help one another. While the flood took many homes and roads, it did not take away the resiliency of the rural communities that were impacted.

KENTUCKY

Just a few weeks after the historic flooding in Montana, Kentucky was also hit with damaging flood water. "In Eastern Kentucky, flooding is not uncommon, but the scale and the damage that was caused are something we've never seen before," said Kentucky Rural Water Association (KRWA) Program Coordinator Joe Burns.

Burns, who has been in the water industry for 28 years, said typically a few utility lines will be washed out during flooding. This time, however, entire counties had their lines washed out and several roads, bridges and houses were washed away.

In his six years with KRWA, Circuit Rider Danny Stinson said this year's flooding did the most damage to water and wastewater infrastructure. The flood was tough on systems and pipes, and even if everything was brand new, there still would have been tremendous damage.

As they began assessing the damage, it was estimated that cleanup efforts would take six to eight months.

"With the support of all the utilities across Kentucky and some from out of state, we were able to cut that timeline down to about three and a half weeks," Burns said.

At least 25 volunteer utilities from Kentucky and surrounding states came to help, he said.

"We had small utilities coming and assisting directly, even if it was a day or two at a time," Burns said. "There were many others that were very, very small and they offered up their warehouse and their inventory. They told us we were welcome to anything they had that we needed. With the supply chain issues, we utilized a lot of utility inventory to make up the difference. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be finished with things yet."

The NRWA disaster response unit played a key role in the clean-up process, serving as a command center and place for volunteers to sleep, Burns said. KRWA Board President Russ Rose flew to Arkansas to retrieve the disaster response unit and drove through the night back to Kentucky so it could be used by responders.

"An average of four people stayed in the NRWA trailer each night for the past month, which saved us more than $10,000 in lodging costs," Stinson said.

In addition to saving lodging costs, it also saved time and travel for those who volunteered to help with the response, since the nearest motels were about two hours away, Stinson explained.

If one thing is certain, KRWA and the other volunteers did not shy away from helping when the conditions were difficult. In one instance, Stinson was working with a local utility to identify a leak. Although Stinson had shut the water off, mountain water run-off continued filling up the hole where the repair needed to be made. They waded neck-deep to fix the leak while also using a water pump to remove the excess water. Stinson was also guiding another utility worker who had never repaired a leak in a hole before. After that experience, the utility worker shouldn't lack the confidence to tackle any situation he encounters on the job, Stinson said.

"I think it helped build confidence in him and he saw firsthand what could be accomplished once you set your mind to do something," Stinson said. "Helping him was probably my highlight of the whole thing."

Just as in Montana, the people of Kentucky were eager to help those working on utilities by bringing them food, drinks, and in some cases, giving hugs, Burns said.

"The outpouring of support was more overwhelming than the flood itself," Stinson added.

Although the teams have wrapped up their response efforts in Kentucky, Stinson said the association will still help with repairs and preparation for future disasters. This year's flooding illustrated the need for additional resources to help systems efficiently prepare and respond in disaster situations.

Accurate GIS mapping, Burns said, is an area that would be helpful during disaster response if more utilities utilized the software regularly. In some of the rural areas affected, cell service was not available. Fortunately, a few utilities in the area had begun mapping projects, which allowed volunteers to download maps and find their way, Burns said. Mapping also helps to locate shut-off valves quickly, making for a more efficient recovery effort to get water and wastewater services functioning again.

"Two of the managers actually commented that if they had had GIS mapping before the flooding, their recovery process would have gone much, much faster," Burns said.

Natural disasters are a matter of when, not if, which is why water and wastewater systems should develop and update their emergency response plans (ERP). ERPs help guide utility workers when responding to situations, including natural disasters such as the flooding in Montana and Kentucky. According to the EPA, ERPs are required for systems serving populations greater than 3,300. More information can be found on EPA's website at epa.gov/waterutilityresponse/develop-or-update-emergency-response-plan.

Rural Water plays a critical role in emergency response. Whether it is outside the gates of Yellowstone National Park or in the mountains of Kentucky, the Rural Water family is there to help get things back to normal after natural disasters. To learn more about NRWA's Disaster Response initiative, please visit nrwa.org/issues/disaster-response.