Answers to looming questions about which direction Lawrence will grow the next 50 years may be ready by May, Douglas County commissioners were told Monday.
Steve Phillips of Black & Veatch, an engineering firm, told county commissioners that by then city and county leaders should have a better idea whether state regulators will allow a wastewater treatment plant to be built along the Wakarusa River, which would allow the city to begin extending south of the river.
Phillips said state regulators likely won't prohibit the city from building a sewer treatment plant on the Wakarusa River but could require costly regulations to be met because the flow of the river virtually can be stopped by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' control of the Clinton Dam.
"If you give me enough money, I can put a plant almost anywhere, but you will have to determine how much money is feasible," he said of a Wakarusa River treatment plant.
The May report will give rough cost estimates for a Wakarusa plant and three other, less-discussed options:
A treatment plant northwest of Lawrence along Baldwin Creek, which would allow city growth north of U.S. 70.
A wastewater plant along the Kansas River between Lawrence and Eudora, which would allow growth east of the current city limits.
A pumping system to allow city growth south of the Wakarusa River by pumping waste to the current treatment plant.
"I think this study is going to largely determine the shape of the city for the next 40 to 50 years," County Commissioner Charles Jones said.
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