Contractors with the City of Twin Falls will begin hauling clean-fill dirt and large boulders beginning Monday, May 12 from the Twin Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Auger Falls Recreation Area. The removal of the dirt and boulders will make way for new clarifier and aeration tanks that will nearly double the capacity of the treatment facility. The clean-fill dirt and the boulders will be used to further the wetlands restoration project at Auger Falls, which will restore wildlife habitat and create additional recreation areas for cyclist, hikers and bird-watchers.
All roads at the Auger Fall Recreation Area will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The closure will allow large trucks to safely carry up to 40 loads of dirt and rock without endangering visitors to the recreation area. Visitors may still use the roads at Auger Falls before 8 a.m. and after 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. The recreation area will also be open to the public all day Saturday and Sunday.
Construction on the wastewater treatment plant expansion will last through the summer of 2014 and is expected to be completed by late-summer 2015.
In March 2013, citizens of the City of Twin Falls approved a $38 million bond election that would expand the capacity of the wastewater treatment facility from 9.6 million gallons per day to 16 million gallons per day. The treatment plant was approaching maximum capacity and needed to be expanded to accommodate future industrial, commercial and residential growth in the City of Twin Falls and Kimberly.
For more information about access to Auger Falls and the wastewater treatment plant expansion, visit the City of Twin Falls website at www.tfid.org.