The city of Cullman was not included in plans for an out-of-county land purchase that could provide a new source of drinking water to the Cullman area, according to Mayor Don Green.

In an interview Friday, Green said he was disappointed the county decided to break away from its informal agreement with the city to seek future water reserves jointly. That statement came after the Cullman County Commission approved a 25.79-acre land purchase in neighboring Morgan County Dec. 26.

At the time, County Water Department Superintendent David Bussman said the land “very well could be” used to construct a large pipeline, allowing the county to draw raw water from the Tennessee River to Cullman County or to allow the county purchase potable water from the Morgan County Water Department.

“They need to do what they need to do,” Green said this week, “but if they’re going to go off on their own we need to know, so we don’t spend tax-payer money to benefit customers we won’t have in the future.

“We’re a little disappointed they would entertain doing this without discussing it with us first. We’ve always tried to be open with them.”

According to Green, the County Water Department accounts for about 40 percent of the customers who drink water purchased from the city of Cullman. If those customers go away, he said, the loss could translate into higher water rates for remaining customers and a change in direction for future water reserves in Cullman.

Over the past decade, city and county planners have been scrambling to come up with an alternative source of drinking water to Lake Catoma, which analysts predicted would be insufficient to meet the area’s needs in the next two decades.

In 2002, a coalition of county, city and community water departments proposed building a dam on the Duck River in Cullman County to create a second reservoir, but that project became bogged down in court with legal and environmental concerns. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers only recently approved the plan, but it seems key individuals are no longer interested in that project due to ballooning costs associated with it.

Friday, Green said estimates made about 12 years ago, which led planners to believe a second reservoir was necessary to keep providing water to people in the city and county, are no longer true today. He said new engineering reports now indicate the area does not need the amount of water the Duck River project would have provided.

“I doubt if the Duck River project will ever be a reality, but it’s nice to have that option open to us still,” he said.

Also according to Green, a meeting was held recently to discus the lessening need for alternative water resources in the Cullman area. He said all three county commissioners were invited to that meeting, but none attended.

“We made a special effort to include them in the hope they would reciprocate with us,” Green said. “It seems pretty obvious now that they’re not willing to do that, and they’re wanting to go off on their own.”

In response, Kitchens said Friday the commission approved the out-of-county land purchase to in an effort to plan for the future of water resources for the county.

“We had an opportunity to buy the land, and that’s all we did,” he said.

He also said the cost of the Duck River Dam project has increased to the point the county would do better to build its own treatment plant than attempt continuing with the dam, but he hoped the city would be involved in any pipeline project in the future, especially since the city already owns a water treatment plant.

“If we do anything with this, we probably will include the city,” he said. “If we can pull water out of the Tennessee River, we’ll have an unlimited supply for everyone.”