Page 21 - NSAA 2017 Fall Journal

business continuity. As the resort’s general manager, Amy 2 Delivery
Ohran, said, “As far as water resources go, recycled water is Is there a wastewater treatment plant or munic-
really the most drought-resistant source of water available.” 8 ipality nearby that can provide the necessary volume of
Soda Springs’ only water resource before this project was treated wastewater to augment snowmaking?
1 to 2 million gallons of potable water that became unavail- It is important to consider the desired amount of reclaimed
able during the drought years. With the addition of the water necessary to augment snowmaking water supplies
reclaimed water source, Soda Springs targets 6 to 10 million enough to warrant project development at this scale. Make
gallons per season. This use for snowmaking mitigates the sure to project the desired amount and check if there is a
discharge of treated water into the South Yuba River. source of wastewater that can match that amount on the
Following the success of Arizona Snowbowl and Soda daily and monthly scale necessary.
Springs, Massanutten Resort in Virginia has recently begun
its own reclaimed water snowmaking initiative. Due to local 3 Storage
permitting variances, Massanutten has chosen to withdraw How is my resort going to store the water?
cleaned water downstream from a water treatment plant Make sure to survey available space for water storage. How
rather than directly pump reclaimed water from a treatment much water will need to be stored onsite to ensure ample
plant. While the process is still awaiting approval, the project on-demand water supply for snowmaking needs?
has the potential to increase Massanutten’s snowmaking
pumping capacity by 50 percent and add 10 million gallons 4 Connection
of additional water storage. How is my resort going to transport the water to
Massanutten has run into a few challenges around the mountain?
public relations, homeowners association right-of-way, Consider if there is a wastewater source within a feasible
and permitting, but feels hopeful about making it over distance. How far will you have to transport the wastewater
these hurdles, according to Ken Hess, the resort’s general to your ski area? What will be the transport method? How
manager. Even though Massanutten tried to engage all the expensive will it be?
potential stakeholders early in the process, there have been
some eleventh hour concerns they are continuing to work
through, he said.

Is Reclaimed Water Feasible
at Your Resort?
Building on the cases where resorts are successfully using
reclaimed water in snowmaking, the following are eight
points of consideration for other resorts exploring this
opportunity:

1 State Regulations
What are my state’s rules and regulations for using
reclaimed water for snowmaking?
Every state has different rules or regulations for snow-
making with reclaimed water and it is important to check
what your state’s regulations are. For example, California
regulates recycled water use and permits snowmaking if
the reclaimed water is disinfected and filtered to a specific
turbidity criteria, while Colorado’s reclaimed water policy
does not mention snowmaking at all. In Colorado, snow-
making with reclaimed water is viewed by policy makers
as inevitable discharge to surface waters during snowmelt
and is instead regulated under the discharge frame-
work of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination TELLS ITS OWN TALE Member of the Doppelmayr group
System (NDPES). 9

FALL 2017 | NSAA JOURNAL | 19