SVID considering options for Leavitt Reservoir

Citing a lack of funding, the board of the Shell Valley Watershed Improvement District did not award any of the four Leavitt Reservoir expansion construction contracts during a meeting Thursday afternoon at Shell Hall.

The board has not yet decided on a course of action, but its goal is still to start construction this year, according to Kevin Mininger, an engineer with RJH Consulting.

It's not the first time that the project has been held up by funding issues. The gap this time is considerably smaller than the one the SVWID faced in January 2022, when a Minnesota company bid $70.3 million to complete the project.  At the time, the SVWID had anticipated it would cost around $46 million.

Since that setback, it has scaled the project back, secured a financial package of approximately $78 million from the legislature, and opted to try a new approach by soliciting bids for four components of the expansion, rather than the entire expansion which was the case in the first round of bidding.

Big Sky Civil Contractors/Montana Civil Contractors was the low bidder for Contract A, coming in at $36.4 million.  The largest of the four, Contract A is for the construction of the dam, outlet works, wetlands and recreation facilities.  The engineer's estimate was $31 million to $36 million.

Big Sky Civil Contractors/Montana Civil Contractors also came in with the low bid of $17.94 million for Contract D.  Estimated at between $8 million and 10 million, this component of the project covers aggregate processing/import.

Mountain View Building was the low bidder on Contract B, at $8.56 million, and Contract C, at $14.61 million. Contract B, for the construction of the supply pipeline and associated structures, was estimated between $6 million and $7 million.  Contract C, for the construction of the transfer pipeline and associated structures, was estimated between $12 million and $14 million.

The four lowest bids total $77.56 million.

Six contractors bid on one or more components of the reservior expansion  project.

"Discussions with the Wyoming Water Development Commission (the funding agency), the project design team and other stakeholders are ongoing to identify the best path forward for the project," said Mininger.