We need your support to strengthen the Draft WQMP. Although the Draft Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) provides some positive recommendations, it lacks strong regional coordination and continues to utilize a patchwork of small wastewater treatment plants, independent sewer districts, and septic systems. Wastewater leads to pollution and poses a threat to drinking water and our ecosystem.

Please sign the petition and join us to request funds from the County and Town to engage a senior strategic advisor to assess Government Cooperation and Funding opportunities for wastewater planning. Specifically, we request that Teton County, Wyoming, hire a wastewater strategic consultant to improve cooperation between local levels of government, identify key infrastructure (sewer pipelines, wastewater treatment plants, etc.), and identify funding sources for this critical infrastructure.

Protect Our Water Jackson Hole (POWJH) is willing to fund $100,000 – nearly half the cost of hiring a strategic advisor. We need Teton County and the Town of Jackson to contribute the other half of the funds. A strategic advisor can evaluate economies of scale and capital resource pooling and help our community access the once-in-a-generation funding opportunities for water quality infrastructure.

On February 12, 2024, Meghan Quinn, POWJH Executive Director, requested that Teton County and the Town of Jackson fund this proposal so we can ensure the future of clean water in Jackson Hole:

 

 

Note: Please just sign and share the petition; there is no need to "chip in" to get the petition on the agenda and promote it, unless you choose to. Thank You!

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Why support this petition?

Jackson Hole is an internationally beloved area with breathtaking scenery, abundant wildlife, and unique ecosystems. To some visitors and residents, water resources such as the Snake River, streams, and lakes look pristine. However, for more than 45 years, nutrient pollution from ineffective septic systems has been degrading water quality and threatening human health and the environment. Teton County, WY, faces water quality challenges, including nitrate contamination in drinking water (an indicator of wastewater pollution that makes water unsafe to drink), E. coli contamination that limits human recreation, and nutrient pollution that degrades natural ecosystems. These impacts can no longer be ignored. The time for action is now.

POWJH has been a catalyst and funding partner for the Teton County Water Quality Management Plan – the first comprehensive study to assess the threats to water quality in Jackson Hole and propose solutions. Although the Draft Plan suggests positive first steps, it does not go far enough in presenting comprehensive solutions for wastewater management and building the critical infrastructure to protect human health and the environment.

POWJH is focused on critical infrastructure because improved technology can protect drinking water and the environment. Data shows that septic systems have contaminated drinking water in areas around the County. Septic systems don’t work well in Teton County because of the cold climate and high groundwater levels. The “straws” for local wells are in the same aquifer (an underground river of our drinking water) that the County’s wastewater is contaminating. This contamination adds nutrients to waterbodies and disrupts the natural ecosystem balance. 

Join us in asking the Teton County, WY Board of County Commissioners and Jackson, WY Town Council to address the gaps in the plan by hiring a strategic advisor to better protect public health and water quality across the County.

Please support us in protecting public health and water quality across Teton County, WY. Together, we can ensure the future of clean water in Jackson Hole.