Boise shuts down water recycling project after cost balloons to $750 million
The city of Boise paused a water recycling project after its price tag ballooned from $56 million to $750 million. The municipality had touted the project as a way to replenish groundwater and create a “drought-proof water supply.”
But Boise Mayor Lauren McLean opened Tuesday’s City Council discussion by explaining it was a “tough budget year,” and with escalating costs, the city needed to pivot and tighten its belt. The project was originally slated for construction in 2027 with a target start date of 2031.
“It’s just too expensive,” Steve Burgos, director of public works, told the council. “I can’t, in good conscience, recommend moving forward with it.”
Boise staff originally planned on using money from a 2021 measure for $570 million in bonds to create a facility that could recycle water in Southeast Boise. But an analysis showed that the plan wasn’t affordable and didn’t meet the community’s needs, according to a memo included with Tuesday’s City Council packet.
The city had already spent $17 million on the facility, plus another $21 million acquiring land in Southeast Boise, Burgos said.
But Burgos noted multiple remaining challenges: A sensitive, highly regulated river, more concentrated wastewater thanks to more efficient toilets, sinks and showers, as well as aging facilities. The Lander Street water renewal facility is 75 years old, Burgos said, and is being replaced.
Plus, Burgos is still waiting to see how prices change from any supply chain issues after the U.S. and Iran’s war closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route.
Burgos went over $1 billion in investments over the next 10 years with the council on Tuesday, including water quality and a collection system, Burgos said. He predicted possible rate increases for taxpayers in the future, though perhaps not rising as high if the city were still doing the water recycling project.
Multiple council members urged care on the rate increases, including Colin Nash, who said he voted for the 2021 bond because of a mailer that explained rates with and without the bond.
Recycled water has been controversial, like when Eagle residents recently objected to their city’s plan on reusing water. But it’s also been available for those with creative minds, like when some local brewers made beer with recycled water in 2018.
And like all Western states, water is a paramount but declining resource, especially amid a bad water year. But even without this year’s drought, people have been raising the alarm for decades on how growth and urbanization have contributed to lowering water levels.
“We are going to recycle water in Boise at some point,” Burgos said. “We see what’s coming on drought conditions. Water is going to become a scarce commodity.”
