February 11, 2020

As our population and the number of visitors to our valley have grown the patchwork of wastewater treatment plants, independent sewer districts and septic systems has become responsible for treating larger and larger quantities of waste and, as a result, these systems are no longer sufficient for properly removing enough nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater before it is discharged into our surface or ground water. The lack of county-wide wastewater planning has led to a loss of efficiency and economies of scale while having adverse effects on the health of our residents and the health of our local waterways. In the absence of any coordinated wastewater planning, the economic, regulatory and environmental issues surrounding this issue will only increase – exponentially.