PRESTON – Water is a critical commodity in the West and in Southeast Idaho, especially during drought years.
Preston’s mayor and city council want to build a new water storage tank to help with the growing needs of Preston.
Mayor Dan Keller said they would like to keep thousands of gallons of water from running unchecked into Foster and Glendale reservoirs from their water source at Berquist Springs.
Back in 2023-24, the city applied for a State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) to fund building of a new water tank. That type of grant is used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide federal financial support to state, local, and tribal governments.
These grants help finance environmental programs, infrastructure projects, and regulatory compliance tasks like a water storage facility.
“We applied for a $5.1 million STAG grant,” Keller said. “They gave us $3.75 million to build a new water tank.”
The new water tank would give the city 6.5 million gallons of water.
“We opened the bids on July 23,” the mayor said. “The bids came back. The lowest bid was $6.3 million and the highest bid was $7.8 million. The council rejected all bids because we didn’t have that kind of money.”
The city found a way to get the water tank funded without residents seeing a change on their monthly bill.
The city council went to work and found a way to get the money needed. They are in the process of getting a $2.5 million bond on the November ballot.
The good thing about what the city is doing is it will not cost the citizens any extra money to pay for the water tank.
There is a bond that will end on 2028 at about the same time the new bond will kick in for the water take.
“We would like to encourage the citizens to vote yes this November,” Keller said. “We are going to pay off a bond in 2028, and this new bond will take the place of that one.”
There will be no extra charge to the citizens, one will end when the other begins.
“The timing is fortuitous from the standpoint we will rebid the project in spring of 2027, but the debt will be paid off with the cash flow,” he said. “Anytime we take the debt from the citizens it is a good thing.”
The additional water tank will give the city more water storage. Right now, most of the excess water flows into Foster and Glendale reservoirs. It is tougher to take the water out of the reservoirs and use it for drinking water.
The extra water storage will also give the city more water when there is a drought cycle and for the housing growth of the city.
The city has seen 30 to 50 additional homes built a year.