Work is progressing on the Northwest Area Water Supply Project.
That project will bring Missouri River Water to Minot and the Northwest.
State Water Commission Engineer Garland Erbele said designs are being developed for a retrofit of the pump station at Snake Creek, and to look at the condition of the raw water line from Snake Creek to Minot. And Erbele said the design for the new Max biota treatment plant is being finalized.
"We're going to be bidding the Max biota plant sometime in early spring or mid-summer," Erbele said. "We probably have a two year buildout of that, so sometime in 2022 we expect to have that plant completed."
Erbele said completing the Max plant and the retrofit at Snake Creek are important steps in NAWS development.
"We're using the Sundre aquifer, that Minot gets its groundwater supply from," Erbele said. "Having the biota treatment plant and the pumping station at Snake Creek complete will allow us to switch to Missouri River water."
The project had been subject to legal complaints from Canada. But those cases have been dismissed.
"All legal remedies have been exhausted, and we can really start to move on construction," Erbele said.
Erbele said construction on NAWS will likely take another 5 to 6 years to complete.
