At the Evergreen Water & Sewer District, our goal is to provide safe, clean, sparkling water to all of our residents. Our water is never chlorinated or fluoridated. Many people say it's the best-tasting water in the Valley!
Our District
The Flathead County Water District #1 -- Evergreen, or the Evergreen Water and Sewer District as we're more commonly known, is a stand-alone governmental entity formed under Montana law. We value transparency, and have annual public financial audits, open records, and open meetings. Our experienced staff has over 165 years of combined experience in water and wastewater, and includes four certified water operators.
The Water System
The District's water system has been serving the Evergreen community since 1965. Within our 8 sq. mile service area, we provide 3,283 customers -- 3,130 domestic and 153 irrigation -- with fresh water. During the winter, water demand is about 138,000 gallons a day, but in summer it skyrockets to 4.5 million gallons a day! It takes a lot of water to keep all those lawns green.
To meet the water demand, the District has eleven wells and a 1.6 million gallon storage tank up on the Bluff. We are in the process of renovating our 1-million-gallon storage tank for additional supply.
We offer free nonpotable water at the District Office from May 1st - October 1st.
The Sewer System
In 1994, the Evergreen Water District became the Evergreen Water and Sewer District! The sewer system we installed is still the largest wastewater infrastructure project in Montana. We have 2,004 sewer customers. 1,605 of those have septic tanks hooked up to the sewer mains; those tanks have their effluent pumped on a six-year cycle. 500,000 gallons a day of wastewater flows through our system and over to the City of Kalispell's wastewater treatment plant. We dispose of an additional 700,000 gallons of septage a year through private contractors.
Operations
The Evergreen Water and Sewer District runs a tight ship! As a non-profit, stand-alone government entity, we strive to manage the money entrusted to us efficiently and effectively. We have a $2 million operating budget, $24 million in assets, and no debt. It's important to us to keep that money in the community; most of our 100+ vendors are local.
One of our priorities is maintaining and updating our infrastructure and technology in a wise and cost-effective way. Our five-year capital plan keeps us on track and helps plan for future expenses. We recently completed a full assessment and professional engineering report for our sewer system and are integrating its important insights into the projects we have planned to update infrastructure and reduce I&I. Water gets its turn, too: we're currently working on minor repairs for our 1.6 million gallon concrete tank on the Bluff and a full renovation to make our 1 million gallon steel water tank operational by this year. Careful management of our resources and generous project cost matching grants from Flathead County and the State make these crucial projects possible while minimizing the rate impact on our customers.
Life is busy here at the District, but it's the good kind of busy. With respect for the past and preparation for the future, we look forward to providing safe and secure water and wastewater services to Evergreen for many years to come.
