The Turtle Mountain Water Treatment Plant, Belcourt, North Dakota. A membrane expansion project is nearing completion and includes numerous upgrades to the facility.
Enhancing Water and Wastewater Systems: The Collaborative Success of TMBCI and HEI The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (TMBCI) water system is a success story of continual improvements and developments for more than 30 years. The Turtle Mountain Public Utilities Commission (PUC) began working with HEI around 25 years ago to meet water supply needs through the creation of a 30-year Water System Master Plan to stay ahead of residents’ needs. The main requirement established by the TMBCI was that the master plan be a forward-looking, living document to guide water system improvements for both long-term and critical, short-term needs. The master plan needed to be structured to meet the United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) requirements for a final engineering report, while expanding the scope to address critical needs identified by the TMBCI to properly allocate limited funds to maximize project benefits. Upon master plan completion, the TMBCI system was determined to have more than $80 million in water system improvement needs. Read more about the PUC and development of the master plan on page 6 of our previous newsletter article on the topic! https://bit.ly/4eIZUHj
Background and History
After the development of the master plan and revolving five-year plans, early milestones of success included the creation of multiple distributed water stations strategically located to ensure that even the most remote areas of the reservation had access to clean and reliable water. These initial efforts in improving access to water for both tribal and non-tribal residents paved the way for more ambitious projects, such as the expansion of the Highway 43 water main and the enhancement of the TMBCI Water Treatment Plant (WTP).
The Turtle Mountain Water Treatment Plant is a key component of the TMBCI water system.
The master plan was utilized to fill the Indian Health Service (IHS) Sanitation Deficiency System (SDS) database by addressing deficiencies associated with water, sewer, and solid waste projects Through a cooperative approach and on reservations. Initially, IHS funded the utilization of both state and federal and completed many water system funding, TMBCI and HEI have successfully improvement projects. However, as addressed system deficiencies and laid time went on and deficiencies were not the groundwork for future improvements, addressed in an acceptable timeframe building a robust and reliable water due to funding constraints, IHS began system for the community. providing funding to projects designed 8
Fall/Winter 2024
and constructed by HEI, such as phases of the Highway 43 Corridor.
Current Efforts and Projects
TMBCI is actively working on enhancing their water system to ensure reliable and efficient service. Key projects include the expansion of the Highway 43 water main, which was separated into five phases designed by HEI. Phase 3 was recently completed and Phase 4 will be seeing completion soon. Phase 5 has been awarded and construction will begin soon. Another significant project is the expansion of the WTP, which involves upgrading existing facilities to increase capacity and improve water quality. The Thorne Reservoir project will enhance water storage and will simplify the water supply to the WTP by equalizing wellhead pressure and unifying the raw water quality by blending the water sources. Other projects under design include two phases of raw water main replacement projects, an additional booster station and water main expansion, replacement of the over-pressurized water supply main to the Belcourt community, and five projects to replace failing glued PVC water mains across the Reservation. These efforts are supported by state and federal funding, exemplifying the collaborative nature of the project. An ongoing effort intertwined with other projects is the GIS mapping system that HEI is continuously working on in tandem with PUC. This multi-purpose project helps the PUC in many ways: responding to regulatory agencies, project planning,