Johnson H20, Yes or No?
by Ben Hogwood

The Village of Johnson will be going to voters to approve $4.25 million
for a new water system on Tuesday, November 9, just a week after the
General Election.
If approved, the money will be used for the almost complete overhaul of
a system in entropy, including construction of a new water source with
filtration, a storage reservoir and distribution elements (pipes...). Up
to 75 percent could be funded by the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development.
Currently, Johnson has two sources for water, the French Hill brook
source and a drilled well located near Nadeau Sand & Stone, along Route
15. Both have problems. The French Hill source is open and dependent on
rainfall. It is also subject to increasing federal regulations. Town and
Village Administrator Duncan Hastings said the cost to bring it up to
Environmental Protection Agency standards would be excessive and
wouldn't warrant the expense.
The source near Nadeau's provides good, naturally hard water, said
Hastings, but its proximity to Route 15 is causing problems. Sodium
levels in the water have elevated over recent years, most likely due to
salt from the road seeping through the soil. Hastings said the amount of
sodium is not at a dangerous level, even to those on low sodium diets,
but it is a growing issue. In addition, the potential contamination in
that area from a tanker spillage on the road would quickly get into the
well, as the soil in that area is highly permeable.
With few exceptions, the system was created in the 1890s with undersized
cast iron pipe. Hastings said they are losing approximately 50 percent
of the water due to leaks throughout the system. "It's excessive," he said.
The current reservoir is also old, and with a capacity of 180 thousand
gallons, is not big enough for daily use and fire emergencies. While the
fire aspect is not required by state or federal regulations, it does
represent an issue for the village, said Hastings.
Trustees for the village began looking for ways to solve this problem 10
years ago, but there has always been difficulty finding an appropriate
source. Trustees hired Otter Creek Engineering in 2001 to continue the
search, but all results were discouraging, said Hastings. Finally, the
firm did testing on the land of Sheldon and Beverly Osgood where it
finally found a well producing 300 gallons per minute. This would allow
for growth where the previous usage had been pushed to its limits, said
Hastings.
The water has been extensively tested with the only issue being slightly
elevated manganese levels. While this is not a health issue, it could
cause staining in clothes, said Hastings. To avoid this, the village
will be filtering the water.
This project will address 95 percent of the system's deficiencies, said
Hastings. The Nadeau source will remain on-line for backup or emergency
uses, but Otter Creek Engineering has recommended boneyarding the French
Hill brook source, including removal of an impoundment and the water
filtration building.
The funding for this project is geared around the user not paying more
than the state average water rate. Village officials have found they can
do much more without exceeding the average cost of water for all
Vermonters. "This will be the only bite of the apple for many years to
come," he said.
The village will host an informational meeting at the Municipal Building
on Monday, November 8, at 7 p.m. If the bond vote on the following day
passes, work on the project will begin in the spring of 2005.
Construction could last longer than one year. "It's a fairly big
project," said Hastings.
If the village does not get the funding from the USDA, at or near the 75
percent level, it will not go ahead with the project. Hastings said
there are other possible sources of funding the village could pursue.
However, if it does get funding at the 75 percent level, the village
would pay approximately $1 million toward the project.