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Teton County Commissioners aim to fill positions on the new Water Quality Advisory Board.
In June, commissioners approved a Water Quality Management Plan to guide the protection of surface and groundwater resources over the next two decades. The plan took years to complete and follows heightened community concern over water quality in recent years like unsafe E. coli levels in Flat and Fish Creek and elevated nitrate levels on the Snake River near Hoback junction.
The 1,500-page plan recommends a variety of actions like cutting down on septic systems to beefing up chemical monitoring and creating new positions — like Chris Peltz’s.
Peltz was hired as the county’s water resources coordinator in March, a new position that will work closely with the new board to implement the Water Quality Management Plan.
The county is accepting applications for that board now, and they’re looking for a variety of community voices from health officials to nonprofit representatives to your average resident.
“We’re really going to lean on this board to be knowledgeable and engaged so when they make recommendations it will carry real value and real weight,” Peltz said.
Peltz said young and retired community members are traditionally underrepresented on advisory boards. He would like to see applications from those communities as well.
“You got to love clean water, you got to be a resident of the county and be willing and interested to work with your community members and your neighbors,” Peltz said, “to think about deeply and wrestle with some important topics that we’re all going to face here.”
The eventual five to seven member board will advise county commissioners on water policy throughout the valley.
“The goal here is so that decisions aren’t made in a vacuum,” Peltz said.
The application period for the county-appointed board ends Sunday, Sept. 29. Interviews conducted by county commissioners could begin as soon as next week, with board appointments as early as late fall.
