Wastewater Matters

Wastewater Matters

For most of Victor’s history, wastewater has done exactly what it should: stayed out of sight and out of mind. It runs underground, quietly essential to public health and daily life.

Over the past year, however, it has moved from the background to the center of civic conversation.

This moment did not begin in 2025. Victor’s wastewater story stretches back more than 25 years. Before we discuss what comes next, it’s important to understand how we arrived here, what the engineering analysis concluded, and what has changed.

A Brief History of Victor’s Wastewater

Before 1999, wastewater in Victor was managed primarily through individual septic systems. As federal Clean Water Act standards tightened through the 1980s and 1990s, small natural-process systems struggled to meet modern discharge requirements. For a growing community, building and expanding a lagoon-based system required substantial land and capital.

On October 13, 1999, Victor entered into an agreement to send its wastewater to the City of Driggs for treatment. At the time, Driggs operated a lagoon system. The arrangement allowed Victor to maintain its local collection system while sharing treatment costs regionally.

In the late 2000s, regulatory pressure on Driggs increased due to repeated permit violations. In response, Driggs replaced its lagoon plant with a mechanical Multi-Stage Activated Biological Process (MSABP) facility in 2013. The two cities updated their inter-city agreement in 2011 to reflect this shift.

Despite that upgrade, compliance issues continued. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint against Driggs for thousands of permit violations. In January 2025, Driggs entered into a consent decree with the EPA requiring:

• A $400,000 penalty
• A major facility expansion and upgrade estimated at more than $30 million

This marked a turning point in the Victor–Driggs relationship. In early 2023, Victor initiated an independent audit that identified historical billing discrepancies. In October 2024, following Driggs's direction to increase rates to reflect projected treatment costs under the intercity agreement, Victor adjusted sewer rates accordingly. Those collected funds are currently being held in reserve and accrue interest. Facing ongoing regulatory uncertainty, limited operational control, and increasing financial exposure, Victor began evaluating whether continuing as a customer of Driggs was the right long-term path.

Why the Wastewater Study Was Commissioned

Victor commissioned an updated Wastewater Facilities Planning Study to:

• Evaluate the condition of its collection system
• Project future growth and flows
• Compare treatment alternatives
• Develop a long-term Capital Improvement Plan

At the time the study was prepared, several treatment alternatives were evaluated. However, land availability significantly constrained feasibility.

In 2024, the City examined a lagoon-based land application system. While simple and comparatively low-cost from a treatment-technology standpoint, engineering analysis determined that it would require leasing approximately 400–500 acres for irrigation. Securing and controlling that amount of land proved unworkable. As land availability conditions evolved and further analysis was completed, the City revisited mechanical treatment alternatives, including systems designed for surface discharge or rapid infiltration. In 2025, two additional factors influenced the reassessment of the Victor–Driggs partnership:

1: Contractual uncertainty: A draft replacement agreement proposed by Driggs did not clearly define accounting methodology or fund segregation. The proposed billing structure would have resulted in Victor ratepayers paying treatment rates higher than Driggs residents without clearly specified contractual protections. Future upgrades tied to the DOJ-mandated rebuild also raised concerns, as Victor has never had ownership or operational control of the facility. It would be inequitable for Victor to bear millions of dollars in costs stemming from design and operational decisions made solely by Driggs.

2: Off-site infrastructure costs: Capital improvements required between Victor’s northern lift station and the Driggs plant — commonly referred to as trunkline improvements — were estimated at approximately $20 million in potential exposure for Victor. Those costs significantly reduced the anticipated economy-of-scale benefit of remaining with a regional facility.

After reviewing the Keller Associates feasibility analysis, contract terms, and cost projections, the City Council unanimously voted in March 2025 to pursue development of a Victor-owned treatment facility.

The alternatives evaluated included:

• Remain with Driggs
• Construct a lagoon system
• Construct a mechanical plant with surface discharge
• Construct a mechanical plant with rapid infiltration

In August 2025, the City approved in open session the purchase of a 40-acre parcel for the future treatment site. All related annexation and rezoning actions were authorized during public meetings.

Driggs has agreed to continue treating Victor’s wastewater through at least January 2029 to allow time for design and construction.

What the Study Found

 1. Victor’s Collection System

The engineering study concluded that Victor’s wastewater collection system is generally in good condition within city limits.

In 2024 dollars, approximately $23 million in capital improvements are identified between Victor’s northernmost lift station and the Driggs treatment plant. Under the existing intercity agreement framework, roughly $13 million of that total would be attributable to Driggs and approximately $10 million to Victor.

Driggs’ improvements are considered more immediate, as portions of their infrastructure are already operating at or above 85% capacity. Victor would need to upgrade its northern lift station in the near term (approximately $3 million), with additional improvements potentially deferred for up to a decade.

For planning discussions, a placeholder of approximately $20 million has been referenced as Victor’s potential exposure for off-site improvements, though that figure is subject to refinement depending on final cost allocation and agreement terms.

The full Capital Improvement Plan totals approximately $30.5 million over 50 years, with funding phased and prioritized. These are long-range planning estimates, not immediate expenditures.

Investment is required under any scenario. The difference is where those investments occur and who controls them.

2. The Regional Driggs Facility

Driggs’ facility has required repeated regulatory intervention and now faces another significant expansion under federal oversight. Victor’s continued participation would mean:

• Exposure to capital investments driven by another city
• Limited operational control
• Exposure to regulatory penalties and capital costs associated with permit violations. Under a draft replacement agreement proposed by Driggs, accounting methodology and fund segregation were not clearly specified, and treatment-related fines could have been incorporated into shared billing. 

Those conditions have shaped the current reassessment in the inner-city relationship.

Why Mechanical Treatment Is Central to the Decision

With land availability resolved, Victor is now evaluating an advanced mechanical treatment system engineered to meet higher treatment classifications and capable of producing Class A reclaimed water (please see About Class A water sidebar for more information).

The mechanical alternative allows for multiple discharge pathways, depending on DEQ permitting:

• Land Application: Treated water is applied to crops, with the permit requiring full crop uptake.
• Rapid Infiltration: Treated water is discharged into engineered infiltration basins and percolates into the aquifer.
• Surface Discharge: Treated effluent meeting high water-quality standards is discharged to surface waters.

Hybrid configurations are also possible depending on long-term operational strategy and DEQ permitting. This is a critical distinction. A modern mechanical system:

• Produces higher-quality effluent
• Offers more reliable treatment performance
• Provides direct local control over compliance and operations

It is not inexpensive. Advanced treatment is capital intensive.

The question is not solely upfront capital cost. It also includes long-term operating expense, staffing requirements, regulatory oversight, and governance control. 

A shared Driggs facility was expected to require four full-time treatment operators. A Victor-owned mechanical facility is projected to require two part-time operators. Labor represents a significant component of annual operations and maintenance costs.

While cost-sharing at a regional plant might suggest proportional staffing expense, Victor must already employ personnel to operate its collection system. Remaining with Driggs would effectively add additional staffing obligations beyond those already required locally.

So, Victor now faces a structural choice: Continue investing in a regional facility with documented compliance challenges and expansion costs or invest locally in a modern system designed to meet higher treatment standards with aquifer return potential.

Where We Are Today

Victor has transitioned from a customer model to planning for a local infrastructure asset under its own control. Council meeting links and staff reports related to the March and August 2025 decisions are cataloged in the City Council Meeting Links tab for public reference and can be found on the Wastewater Treatment Facility Page . Future wastewater actions will continue to be documented there.

Future updates will address:

• Ratepayer impact under different scenarios
• Governance structure implications
• Project timeline and financing considerations

Wastewater infrastructure is foundational to public health, environmental stewardship, and long-term community stability. The decision before Victor is not about avoiding investment. It is about determining where that investment should occur and under whose control it should operate. We encourage residents to stay informed and continue to ask hard questions.