Public Hearing Notice for FY 2024 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Projects
The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) announces a Public Hearing regarding its Project Plan for the Detroit, Dearborn, and Highland Park Transmission Main Water Metering Project. The purpose of this public hearing is not only to inform, but to gather feedback from people who will be affected.
The cities of Dearborn, Detroit, and Highland Park currently do not have water master meters, which are used to identify wholesale water usage demands, non-revenue water, and optimize water system operations. This project entails the construction of master metering facilities at 25 locations along these cities’ municipal boundaries and is required to measure the wholesale water demands. These meters would provide the best available data for calculating average daily demands, maximum daily demands, and peak hour demands, which would be used to calculate each city’s units of service and its share of GLWA’s annual charge allocations. These meters are also required to better identify and resolve non-revenue water within this area of the regional water system. Non-revenue water adds unnecessary costs to overall operating budgets and has potential environmental consequences. Furthermore, if water lost from the water mains returns to the sanitary sewer, it must be treated before being released back into the environment, incurring additional costs.
System operations use wholesale master meters to better understand how the system is operating in real-time and to validate and calibrate GLWA’s water hydraulic model. The water flows and pressures at these locations will be linked into the GLWA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, allowing operators to quickly assess operational issues within the system (such as water main breaks or other system interruptions) and adjust water service to affected areas. This information would aid in the reduction of boil water advisories in affected areas. Furthermore, by obtaining additional flow and pressure data from these additional 25 locations, the hydraulic model can be improved and used to better understand and mitigate water age issues throughout the system.
Impacts of the proposed project include construction of water master metering facilities for cities of Dearborn, Detroit, and Highland Park, which will be used to identify wholesale water usage demands, non-revenue water, and annual charges allocations for the cities. The data from the newly proposed instruments at the facilities will aid in water quality monitoring, understanding flows and pressures in the service area, and the optimization of water system operations. The cost of this project is currently estimated at $46.5 million and is eligible for participation in the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) low interest Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) financing program. GLWA intends to pursue this low interest funding opportunity for FY 2024.
The Public Hearing on the FY 2024 DWSRF Project proposed by GLWA will be held for the purpose of receiving comments from interested persons. The presentation at the Public Hearing will provide a description of the improvements, its evaluation, and estimated costs. Comments and viewpoints from the public are requested. Information on the Project Plan will be available for review online after April 28, 2023, at the GLWA Website: https://www.glwater.org/.
THE MEETING WILL BE HELD ON:
DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
TIME: 2:00 PM, Eastern Time (US and Canada)
PLACE: In person, Zoom Videoconferencing, and Telephonic Hearing
Join Zoom Meeting
https://glwater.zoom.us/j/83425353151?pwd=RHlsY2NpQ1pHYkM2SFpxWkNFbjVrUT09
Meeting ID: 834 2535 3151
Passcode: 772121
In Person (subject to capacity)
Board Room, 5th Floor
735 Randolph Street
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Telephonic
Public Call-In Number: 888 788 0099 US Toll-free
877 853 5247 US Toll-free
Meeting ID: 875 3714 4694
Passcode: 693305
Members of the public may offer comments in the following manner:
By Zoom videoconferencing: Members of the public who wish to use Zoom videoconferencing to attend the meeting and/or offer public comment may utilize the following link to attend:
https://glwater.zoom.us/j/83425353151?pwd=RHlsY2NpQ1pHYkM2SFpxWkNFbjVrUT09
During the portions of the hearing designated for public participation may “raise their hand” by using that feature within the software program.
In Person (subject to capacity): Members of the public who, subject to capacity, wish to attend the meeting and/or offer public comment in person may attend the meeting in the Board Room, 5th Floor, 735 Randolph, Detroit, MI 48226.
By Telephone: Members of the public who wish to attend the meeting and/or offer public comment by telephone should call in at the number indicated above, press *9 on their keypad to “raise their hand for public comment.” During other portions of the meeting, members of the public are asked to mute their line by pressing *6 on their keypad to mute or unmute their line.
By E-Mail: Members of the public may provide written comments to the Board by emailing those comments to CEO@glwater.org on or before 5:00 p.m. EST. on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, and should reference “May 24, 2023 Public Hearing on proposed FY 2024 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Projects” in the subject line of the e-mail. The opportunity to submit written comments by e-mail may remain open throughout the duration of the Public Hearing.
By U.S. Mail: Members of the public may provide written comments by United States mail addressed to:
Suzanne R. Coffey, P.E., Chief Executive Officer
Great Lakes Water Authority
735 Randolph
Detroit, Michigan, 48226
Written comments by U.S. mail should reference “May 24, 2023 Public Hearing FY 2024 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Projects” in the letter. The opportunity to submit written comments by U.S. mail may remain open throughout the duration of the Public Hearing.
If a member of the public requires accommodation due to a disability, please contact CEO@glwater.org or (844) 455-GLWA (4592) not less than 72 hours prior to the date of the meeting.
