It may be only 3,500 feet of sewer lines, but Waukee’s new connection with the Wastewater Reclamation Authority’s (WRA) system secures the future growth of the city.

Last month, the WRA approved a project that will expand the West Des Moines outfall extension. The $2 million expansion will extend from Mills Civic Parkway to the north side of Interstate 80 and will allow the city of Waukee to enter the WRA’s system. The deal was in the works for years, requiring hours of planning and what one city official describes as an “extensive agreement” with the city of West Des Moines.

Eight years ago Waukee officials saw a problem. The city was on course to swell past the capacity of the wastewater system that was in place, stifling further growth.

“We are not doing anything presently to hold back development; we don’t need to. We have capacity, but projections show if we don’t do something in the near future we might have an issue,” said Jeff Kooistra, city administrator. “We’re not at the point of no return yet; someday we would be if we didn’t plan ahead.”

The approved sewer extension is small and will only serve a small subdivision once it’s on line, but is the start of a transition to phase out the suburb’s current wastewater system and bring the entire city into the WRA system. By 2015, city officials hope to have another $7 million sewer extension in place that will run north and connect to the city’s current system.

Further plans will also add sewer lines into the Alice’s Road area by 2010, an area eyed by many developers. John Gibson, director of public works for the city of Waukee, said the city wants the sewer into the Alice’s Road development area by spring or summer of 2010 before most of the road work begins.

Plans estimate the approved sewer connection into West Des Moines will be done by the end of this year. Kooistra said other bottlenecks in the WRA system need to be corrected before Waukee can send its full flow into the sewer system.

“This gives us a lot larger capacity and will allow the town to grow because you have a capacity for more wastewater. Our plant has some capacity left, but it will max out at some point,” Kooistra said. “That’s when we want to get offline and send it to somebody else.”