On Sunday afternoon, Karen Jerger noticed a flurry of folks carrying water out of Smith’s, the closest grocery store to her neighborhood of more than 500 homes.
When she got back, the 37-year resident of Rafter J learned a main pipe supplying water had broken, leaving water shooting into the air near the north entrance. Like many private subdivisions in the county, the neighborhood relies on its own water and sewer systems, meaning it’s also in charge of upkeep and maintenance.
A mobile tank provides clean water to Rafter J residents. (Randy Huhn / Courtesy)
South-of-town dwellers were without water pressure for a little more than 24 hours. Some showered at friends’ houses in town, others forwent some hygiene for a bit. Now, all are boiling or using clean water provided by the private neighborhood, until tests come back clean from the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We’ve been using water from the sink and a double dose of hand sanitizer,” Jerger said on Tuesday, adding she was impressed by the quick fix.
The boil order is expected to last several days.
Breaks happen, often because of construction, but this was the biggest that several neighbors could remember.
“In the 25 years I’ve been living in Rafter J we haven’t had anything quite like this,” said Rafter J Improvement and Service District President Brian Schilling.
The break appears to be age-related, he said, “not a surprise” for the infrastructure going on 50 years.
But it could be the reality for more Teton County residents as several other subdivisions – such as Game Creek and High Country – reach their half-century mark, said Chris Peltz, Teton County’s water resources coordinator.
“We’re seeing more use, more intensive use and aging infrastructure,” Peltz said. Failures are “going to continue.”
Rafter J’s emergency came a week and a half after about 50 residents of the J-W neighborhood of Hoback faced a similar predicament. A leak there drained water tanks dry, leading Teton County to declare a state of emergency.
“We had no water for washing dishes, or flushing toilets, or drinking, or anything,” said J-W resident Bob Frodeman.
Water managers figured out they could run water even with a “huge leak,” with two hours of flow in the morning and two at night for about a week. After water started running again, testing lasted two days and a boil order was lifted on Sunday.
The Hoback neighborhood’s system is 45 years old and at the end of its life expectancy, said Frodeman, who is also the chair of the Hoback Junction Water and Sewer District Board.
J-W residents will live with the leak, for now. Against that backdrop, Teton County commissioners this week approved a $300,000 contingency to get construction bids across the finish line for an approximately $7 million municipal water system to solve the long-understood nitrate drinking water quality issues in Hoback.
That was in addition to $3 million the county already approved towards the project in 2024.
The fix took a village. Others chipping in include the Teton Conservation District, the Wyoming Water Conservation District and the Wyoming Drinking Water State Revolving Fund is issuing a loan. Protect Our Water Jackson Hole has been delivering clean drinking water for free since 2022 and helped raise money for related studies. Construction is slated to start this year and last two more years.
Rafter J also plans to replace aging infrastructure over time.
“We haven’t finalized a plan for doing that,” Schilling said, but he lauded fellow board members for projecting needs and costs to build reserves and weather unexpected events.
As the county grows and transitions from rural to suburban and urban, officials created a water management plan and hired Peltz to lead the charge.
All fixes — from better water systems to expanding sewer lines — will cost money, whether from private homeowners or public grants or a mix of sources. The issue on the horizon is what to prioritize.
“We recognized this is a problem,” Peltz said. “Now we need a way to prioritize.”
