HOBACK, Wyo. — The Hoback Junction Water and Sewer District’s (HJWSD) Level II water analysis will design a plan for a new water supply system to remedy Hoback Junction’s contaminated drinking water.
For approximately 30 years, many Hoback Junction wells have produced unsafe drinking water due to high levels of nitrates.
On February 21, 2023, Hoback residents voted 35 to zero to establish a water and sewer district to help fix their chronic water quality problems. In Wyoming, a water district needs to be formed in order for the State to get involved. Robert Frodeman, District Chair and Hoback Junction resident, led the campaign to form the HJWSD, which is comprised of 54 property owners; approximately 150 people.
In 2022, the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, Protect our Water Jackson Hole (POWJH), Teton County, Teton Conservation District and Crowley Capital contributed to the Level II water study and the water and sewer district. The study will identify options for correcting water problems and provide cost estimates. When completed, this analysis will allow the HJWSD to apply for Level III construction funding for a new water system at the state and federal levels, according to POWJH.
Hoback Junction sits only 10 miles south of the town of Jackson but it is geographically and hydrologically isolated, which contributes to the area’s water contamination issues. Frodeman shared with Buckrail the unique geological features surrounding Hoback Junction.
“Think of Teton County as a bathtub filled with gravel,” Frodeman told Buckrail. “Years ago, glaciers dropped gravel into the valley floor. This is our single source aquifer that supplies drinking water to most Teton County residents. But once you get to Munger Mountain, instead of permeable deposits allowing for Snake River flow, you need to drill wells into the bedrock.”
Frodeman compared this geological and hydraulic change to “turning off the spigot” to the Snake River aquifer. The river flows through the bedrock, and doesn’t seep into the ground water.
POWJH states on their website, that Hoback Junction residents, out of necessity, drill private wells that tap into the limited groundwater trickling through fractured bedrock. Effluent or liquid waste from septic systems percolates down into these openings, where it comes in contact with the groundwater. This is likely a contributor to the high nitrate load that characterizes the area.
Not all the homes in the Hoback area have contaminated wells, the nitrate leaks predominately impact Hoback Junction, which is situated at the confluence of the Hoback and Snake Rivers.
Carlin Girard, Executive Director of Teton Conservation District after serving for seven years as the Water Resources Specialist at Teton Conservation District, told Buckrail that nitrate in groundwater is a good indicator that wastewater from septic systems is connected to the drinking water.
Industrial fertilizer and animal feeding can cause higher levels of nitrate but Girard says that this chemical compound detected in Hoback Junction’s groundwater is predominantly from the source of leached waste water. Each home in Hoback Junction has its own septic and leach field.
Consuming nitrates at high levels can be harmful to respiratory and reproductive systems, and it can also be dangerous for fetuses and infants, according to the Water Education Foundation.
“There is a reason we have drinking water standards,” Girard said. “If nitrate levels exceed the drinking water criteria, this can create a multitude of health problems, including cancers, birth defects and babies dying in utero. It can inhibit the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and cause ‘blue baby syndrome.’ Young children and pregnant mothers have the highest sensitivity.”
Girard went on to say that if higher levels of nitrate exist, it’s also an indicator that other contaminants are likely infecting the drinking water as well.
“We don’t test for a lot of things, such as pharmaceuticals, soaps, detergents and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or forever chemicals that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency,” Girard said. “Everything that goes down the drain goes into the groundwater.”
Girard explained that some water systems in Hoback Junction have had to undergo treatment due to the high nitrate levels for years, but local wells regularly exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum allowable nitrate concentration for human consumption. Privately-funded treatment systems can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to POWJH, this has led many Hoback Junction residents to buy water for personal consumption.
Matthew Bambach, Water Resource Program Manager for POWJH, told Buckrail that POWJH, along with support from the Community Foundation, started managing the Clean Water Initiative in 2022, a bi-weekly water delivery system to in-need Hoback Junction residents. JH2O Water Conditioning and Filtration filters water from the Jackson area through a reverse-osmosis process and are “the boots on the ground,” delivering five galloon jugs to 36 homes in Hoback Junction.
“This is an interim short-term solution and it doesn’t address the entire need,” Bambach said. “Clean water is needed for bathing, cooking and cleaning as well as for drinking. The challenge moving forward is how to meet the greatest need with the program; the elderly, children and pregnant mothers.”
Bambach goes on to say, “because many homes have contaminated water, demand for current and future residents could soon exceed delivery capacity.”
Hoback Junction home owner and HJWSD board member Trevor Robinson receives water jugs through the Clean Water Initiative. Robinson shared a photo with Buckrail showing the amount of silt and sand that came out of his bathtub faucet this past summer in just one day. He said that this sludge-like muck coming out his faucet is consistent with what his neighbors have experienced.
“It’s our universal hope to bring potable water to the citizens of Hoback Junction,” Robinson said.
HJWSD estimates that it will cost approximately 10 million to construct a water treatment system that would draw water from the Snake River. Frodeman said that figuring out the proposed construction site and size of the needed pipes are questions needing to be addressed. Two possible locations for the District’s 150,000 gallon water tank are above Hoback Market or next to the recycling dumpsters at the START bus site. Once the system is up and running, a certified water expert will be hired to test the water daily.
“It may be most economical to draw water from the Snake River,” Frodeman said. “The alternative is to run a pipe line four miles from Munger.”
The Level II water analysis is estimated to be completed by summer 2024, and then the HJWSD will apply for County, State and federal funding. Frodeman said that the 54 property owners who form the HJWSD will vote on the proposed new water system.
“If the costs are too high the project will not get approved and negotiations will be needed to lower the estimated overall cost,” Frodeman told Buckrail.
HJWSD’s goal is to break ground for the water treatment plant in 2025.
“We are working on clean drinking water first,” Frodeman said. “Then we can begin an analysis for replacing our septic tanks. We are also waiting to see if Teton County’s Draft Water Quality Management Plan will address Hoback Junction’s septic system.”
