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Protect Our Water Jackson Hole (POWJH) has filed a formal request with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to investigate and remediate water quality in a Teton County business district.
The move builds on a history of concern for the broader region, including further south in Hoback.
The Pub Place area south of town includes the Jackson Hole Marketplace store and the restaurant, The Bird, where self-serve water coolers have at times warned consumers about tests revealing high nitrate levels from its wells. The restaurant filters its water, said Jen Evans, POWJH’s advocacy director. The nonprofit has free well testing kits and encourages filtering as a temporary solution to what it believes is a wastewater management problem.
Other nearby businesses have reported elevated nitrate concentrations. Nitrates interfere with blood oxygen transport and health experts warn that high nitrate levels can be particularly dangerous for infants and pregnant women.
The businesses and homes are a region where the geology makes water management tricky and more vulnerable to contamination from small wastewater facilities like septic, according to Teton County’s 2024 Water Quality Management Plan.
First, the advocacy organization wants the state to confirm the source of nitrates. All signs point to aging septic systems and heavy industrial activity.
In its complaint, POWJH refers to tests that show high nitrate levels have been increasing for more than a decade and at dangerous levels as recently as last year.
“With more than 50 leach fields in less than a square mile—many dating back to the 1970s and 1980s—the risk of leaching into groundwater is high,” said a press release from the organization.
A Tryhydro report included in the county’s water plan states that data reviewed for Pub Place in the O Bar B Subdivision show elevated nitrate levels in drinking water supplies. Most properties along Pub Place, including The Bird, are primarily connected to the town’s sewer system but do draw from wells susceptible to contamination.
Evans said the organization isn’t yet lobbying for specific solutions. Those will depend on the state’s findings, she said.
Chris Peltz, the county’s water resources coordinator, agreed the remedy likely lies with improving local infrastructure.
“Probably the best solution down there is to get everyone on a better public water system and have better access to sewer,” Peltz said. This is not a new idea. County commissioners have contemplated extending the town’s sewer lines north and south of town to business districts.
For water connection, Peltz also pointed to nearby water providers, such as that in the planned subdivision of Melody Ranch.
A spokesperson for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality said Thursday the organization received the request and is working with Protect Our Water to determine next steps.
– Dante Filpula Ankney contributed to reporting. – Ed.
