By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

RIVERTON, Kan. — Planning for a $12.2 million plant to process water from Spring River for public consumption is under way, but it may be a couple of years before the plant is in operation.

Public Wholesale Water Supply District No. 19 was awarded $12.2 million in federal stimulus funding last month. It includes a grant of $8.9 million and a loan of $3.3 million.

Now comes the hard part — Christie McReynolds, area specialist with U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in Chanute, said work being done now includes legal work, purchasing easements and designing the plant. She said progress is being made, but it’s not visible.

“It’s not the most fun part of the project,” McReynolds said. “It can be more tedious, but it’s a necessary part of the project.”

Plans call for the water-treatment plant to be built on a 12-acre site where Shawnee Creek enters Spring River near Riverton. It also would include a 200,000-gallon, elevated storage tank and booster station.

When complete, it would provide water for four rural water districts in Cherokee County and the city of Columbus. USDA Rural Development estimates the plant would serve 5,800 residents.

The city of Baxter Springs has agreed to serve as a backup water supply for the wholesale district.

At planning meetings for the project, officials discussed the wholesale district selling water to rural districts at a cost of $5 or less per 1,000 gallons.

The rural water districts now are supplied by wells, but saltwater is migrating from western Kansas that may eventually contaminate the wells.

The project had been discussed on and off for 14 years when the potential to receive federal stimulus funds revived the idea in March.

McReynolds said design will take until spring, with a goal of starting construction near the end of 2010. She said the treatment plant could be in operation near the end of 2011.