Year in review: Water battle

Duck River Dam, Smith Lake dispute is The Times number 1 story of 2009

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — During 2009, discussions for a secondary water source in the area hit an all-time high. Litigation that had held up the City of Cullman’s Duck River Dam ended, and city officials began moving forward with the project.

A 2007 lawsuit with the Alabama Rivers Alliance, which was ruled in favor of the city in March, had blocked the project from starting sooner. The lawsuit was filed over concerns the project’s possible impact on the community, quality of life and its possible impairment of the flow downstream.

Also during 2009, members of the Cullman County Commission pitched a new water project to the city, which created some spirited debate that lasted throughout the year and will likely continue into 2010.

The approximately $60 million city water plan calls for a dam on Duck River to create a 640-acre lake and a six-mile pipeline with a 32-million-gallon-per-day capacity. The reservoir would resemble the one at Lake Catoma, currently the county’s sole water source.

Instead of Duck River, the county proposed an alternate secondary water source plan to construct a new treatment facility that would pump water from Smith Lake, as well as upgrading the treatment facilities at Lake Catoma. The creation of a regional water board to oversee water distribution is also a part of the county’s proposal.

City officials rejected that plan and said they will not sell the city’s treatment plant.

The county commission is the last major water authority in the area not to sign on to the Duck River project. The VAW, Walter, East Cullman, Cullman water department and Johnson’s Crossing Water Authorities have all agreed to purchase water from the city until 2040.

In recent months, the Cullman County Commission has sent the City of Cullman a list of 10 provisions it wants to discuss before making a decision to sign on to the Duck River Dam water source project.

Provisions noted by the county include the development of a second water treatment plant, improvement of water quality in the county system, consideration of changing demographics, rights to purchase water from other providers and other topics.

If the issues are not discussed, the commissioners said they will go forward with their own plans for a water source.

“In the event, however, the city and the board determine not to participate in a joint planning process with the county ... the county will be required to give first priority to the use of its resources to the supply, treatment and distribution of water only for the benefit of the water system of the County,” the letter stated.

Cullman County Commission Chairman James Graves said he hopes the county will be able to find some middle ground with the city.

“Hopefully, that will never get to that point where we would go it alone,” he previously said. “I’m optimistic that we’ll eventually be able to reach an agreement with the city.”

Commissioner Wayne Willingham agreed the county and city should work together.

“We want to sit down and talk with them, so we hope it doesn’t go that far,” he said. “But, we have to look out for our rate payers ... We’re trying to get them back to the table.”

Graves said he considers the Smith Lake project too costly to be taken on without the cooperation of other water systems.

“From what I could determine, that project would be close to $80 million,” he said. “If we tried to pass that on to the 15,000 people on the county water system it could mean more than a 100 percent increase in water rates ... I  couldn’t recommend passing that on to the people. That’s just me.”

The option of digging wells and using well water for the county has also been  considered as an alternative, Graves said.



Facilitation

In a recent letter sent to the city, the commissioners have proposed a new study group be established, or a mutually acceptable facilitator be hired, to discuss the water issue further.

This is not the first time a facilitator has been discussed. Both the city and county had considered hiring architect Steve Cawood — with the engineering firm Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood — as a facilitator to discuss the water issue in early November. The city voted down the plan at the time, with Mayor Max Townson noting the Smith Lake plan did not have enough documentation to be given serious consideration.

Until now, city and county attorneys have been discussing the water issue in lieu of a mediator — working to address a similar list of concerns from the county.

“The last time we talked with the county, we said we would handle this all through the attorneys,” Townson said. “This other list of questions will take some time to get answered, but a lot of it is redundant.”

Before contacting the county about another mediation, Townson said he first wants to resolve an ongoing contract dispute.

“We believe their [current] contract with us runs through 2030, and the county believes it runs through 2016,” he said. “We won’t meet with them on this until we learn about the contracts. ... We’re still waiting to hear back from their attorney.”

Graves said the county attorneys are currently working to learn exactly which contract is current.

“We’ve had our attorney looking at it, because there were so many agreements signed over time,” he said. “We’re working to learn which contract is still in effect.”

The debate over a secondary water source is still ongoing.



* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.

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