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A change thatâs being pitched to Teton County regulations would allow septic systems and leach fields to be located closer to the communityâs largest flowing waters.
Currently, there is a buffer on the books that prohibits putting sewage treatment infrastructure within 150 feet of Teton County rivers, including the Snake, Buffalo Fork, Gros Ventre and Hoback. While revising the countyâs small wastewater facility rules, engineer Ted Van Holland proposed eliminating the special âwatercourse protection districtâ regulation, shrinking the river buffer down to 50 feet â the standard for other natural surface waters.
âWe think that this is the better way to go,â said Van Holland, who added that any effect septic system effluent is having on Jackson Holeâs largest rivers, which carry hundreds or thousands of cubic feet of water per second, is negligible.
County commissioners are being asked to help with an ongoing crisis at the Hoback RV Park, where property owners are trying to right some wrongs with the siteâs failing septic system and in doing so are displacing several longtime locals.
The water quality problem and the housing dilemma came to a head Monday morning at the Teton County Board of County Commissioners meeting.
âI am at the end of my rope,â Hoback RV resident Mary Talisman said during public comment. âIf I cannot make this work I will have to move out of Jackson.â
Four of Talismanâs neighbors also provided their thoughts, saying the latest proposed solution by property managers to have everyone install individual septic systems on each RV isnât going to work for them.