HOBACK, Wyo. — For residents living in Hoback, access to clean drinking water has been an issue for 30 years, and momentum is mounting to create a water supply system for the Hoback Junction area.
The Board of County Commissioners hosted a workshop on Monday July 22 and heard from representatives from Nelson Engineering, Teton County Public Works, Hoback Water and Sewer District and the Teton Conservation District about the progress thus far on identifying a water supply system to serve Hoback residents following the submission of the level II study to the Wyoming Water Development Commission, part of the larger process to try to acquire funding from the Wyoming Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.
The level III study is due Sept. 1, prompting the request for feedback from the Commissioners on Monday. Crowley Capital, the owners of Hoback RV Park, contributed $300,000 to the study as part of a settlement following a water quality violation in 2020 when their septic system failed.
“This is a problem that hasn’t been addressed by the free market,” Carlin Girard, Executive Director of Teton Conservation District, said. “In the case of Hoback Market, they are just getting water trucked in there, we are doing workarounds to address the water problem.”
The Commission opted to follow the recommendations from those working on the project; supporting moving forward with a system to serve the Hoback core area first, pledging $3 million from county funds and supporting an easement on the county property near the confluence of the Hoback and Snake Rivers as a location for the water system. Public Works identified funds from SPET, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and County Capital funds that could be committed to support the Hoback District for Fiscal Year 2025.
The Hoback Water and Sewer District was formed in 2022, following other failed attempts to do so in the past in Hoback in 2006 and Hog Island in 2018. It includes about 50 properties in the Hoback Junction core area. According to Bob Frodeman, Board Chair of Hoback Water and Sewer District, efforts to create a district have failed because of concerns from homeowners that monthly water bills would be too high.
While he said property owners should expect final rates to be higher, the funding ask from the county of about $3 million is based on a user base monthly rate of $100. He also said he was pursuing other funding sources and grant opportunities.
“Some of that [money] could be reimbursed if other partners step up,” Frodeman said. “There is money in the system and we are going to pursue it as best we can.”
“This is an urgent problem,” Frodeman said, “It will take a few years to get the drinking water problem solved, then we will turn with all due speed to wastewater issues; that is going to be further down the road yet.”
Two caveats to the project were also presented: the idea of adding fire suppression to the system, and the potential for folding the Horse Creek affordable housing development into the water system.
Anne Cresswell, Executive Director of Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust, was present at the meeting, noting that a 13-acre land donation has made way for the development of 24 to 26 single-family homes off Horse Creek Road, less than two miles from Hoback Junction. Because wells are not a reliable source of clean drinking water in the area, Cresswell said she would like to see the development connected to the future water system but noted, “We don’t want to do anything to jeopardize Hoback’s ability to secure clean drinking water.”
At this stage, the Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC) suggested that Horse Creek be left out of the level III study, based on the high levels of unknowns related to the young project. Annexation of the property into the Hoback Water and Sewer District is a possibility, and something all parties at the meeting supported.
According to feedback from the WWDC, a letter of intent to tie into the district by way of annexation would be enough to incorporate the Horse Creek development into the future design of the system.
Protect Our Water Jackson Hole Interim Executive Director Dan Heilig spoke at the meeting, noting that annexations could be packaged once the district is established. “Not only the Horse Creek property but other residences in the area, like the southside of Hoback River, [poperties] running east towards Camp Creek, and [properties] south over the Snake River bridge.”
Fire suppression possibilities were also explored, with Interim Fire Chief Mike Moyer clarifying that fire suppression resources can vary from a robust system of hydrants throughput subdivisions or central core hydrants that would be used to truck water to a scene. The former is the best system, he said, but also the most expensive.
“We need water down there,” Moyer said. “The closest locations to access water is from WYDOT [on 89] or Melody Ranch.”
Heather Overholser, Teton County Director of Public Works, also noted that a fire district, much like the water district, could be formed to collect more funds.
Overholser was directed by the Commissioners to bring back more information related to the easement of the county property, forming a fire district, future annexations into the district and an analysis on why Hoback is a unique situation and not the precedent for future water systems in the county.
