Sewer officials looking to fund a high-tech $134 million sewer treatment plant at the banks of the Jordan River got a huge boost from the state on Friday.

Utah Water Quality board members, who expressed concerns over a thinning pocketbook early on in their Friday meeting, voted 9-2 to give the South Valley Sewer District a $22 million, 2.3 percent loan that gobbled up 30 percent of their remaining cash.

The cash will help the South Valley Sewer District serve the southern one-third of the Salt Lake Valley with a new wastewater treatment plant in Riverton. Officials say the region needs the new facility quickly to avoid a building moratorium that could stunt growth in the booming portion of Salt Lake County.

The latest 2006 census estimates show Herriman alone, with nearly 15,000 people, has grown 860 percent since 2000. Meanwhile, South Jordan shot up 50 percent, to 44,000, and Draper and Riverton are likewise approaching 50 percent growth, each with populations estimated around 36,000.

 The cities in the district's service area share capacity at a West Jordan plant, but due to the population boom, they have exceeded their capacity there and are leasing from neighboring areas for now.

Not everyone was so quick to hand over the money. Water Quality board member Darrell Mensel, who voted against the loan, said huge projects have become too costly.

We used to see projects of a couple million, now we see these huge projects requesting $20 million," he said. "It's a huge shift, and we're passing out the money at an unsustainable rate. It's going out too fast right now, in too big of chunks."

But Walt Baker, who voted to issue the loan, called this an "unprecedented time" in terms of growth and the size of projects.

"If there were no Riverton plant, what do we do with wastewater?" he asked.

He added that the board is protected because it can't close on loans unless it has sufficient funds.

District general manager Craig White was pleased to get the aid.

"This helps our costs," White said, adding that it would save users money as well.

If the state denied the funds, officials would have had to get an open-market loan at a higher interest rate. White said those added costs likely would have been shouldered by residents through monthly bills and connection fees.

But Jeff Salt - the director of Jordan River-friendly Great Salt Lakekeeper and the new wastewater treatment plant's harshest critic - lambasted the facility plans on Friday. He said the plant is unnecessary and called on officials to study sites closer to the new-growth areas that need service, rather than Riverton where homes are already hooked up to a sewer line.

"The fundamental question of whether this should be built at this time needs to be addressed, and it has not been addressed," Salt said. "The process has been subverted. It has been manipulated. Let this loan fund another project."

But Golden Holt, who lives adjacent to the building site, is happy with the latest plans for the plant. He was co-chairman of a citizens group that initially held up the process in court and coerced the sewer district into pursuing a pricier but more advanced facility that will leave a smaller footprint and treat wastewater well enough to be reused for irrigation.

"I support the project because [the sewer district] has stepped up to the plate. They're committing the funds to do it right," Holt said. "I support them, however they have to get their money to do it right."   sgehrke@sltrib.com

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