Almost lost in the community conversation last week was a massive proposal before the Public Works Committee.

After headlines about Mount Rushmore security, a Wyoming tornado and a hate crime case in Rapid City, well … public works just didn't get much attention.

But if residents in and surrounding Rapid City didn't start a conversation yet, they will as a $60 million septic system proposal winds its way through the city process.

Earlier this week, a consultant's report was presented to the Public Works Committee suggesting some 3,200 septic systems within the city and one-mile around it be replaced with sewer lines.

The move is designed to address the increasing levels of nitrates in city wells.

We're glad to see this proactive approach to protecting the city's water supply. While the community continues to grow, it will be more important than ever to protect this resource.

"It (the project) comes down to the protection of the aquifer. Without water, we really don't have a community," Public Works Director Robert Ellis told council members.

But even a healthy community has to be an affordable one - and that was the concern of at least one council member.

"We want to protect the aquifer, but we also have to think of the cost to the customer," said councilwoman Deb Hadcock.

Rapid City is fortunate to have clean and affordable water. But the costs for that luxury have increased and there's no reason to believe that wouldn't be the case in the future, especially if a $60 million project was approved.

But it's a cost the city and the residents need to be willing to consider. While Ellis said nitrate levels still fall within Environmental Protection Agency standards, being proactive will certainly be less of a costly burden than being reactive years down the road.

Remember, two major water projects - a treatment facility at Jackson Springs and work on the plant at Mountain View - are expected to tap the city water users for about $135 million over the course of the next decade.

That translates in to double-digit rate increases for several years levied on city water users.

How many fee increases the people of Rapid City can bear will generate plenty of debate; but, the one thing that can't be debated is the value, and expense, of having clean water.