An effort to create a watershed management authority failed in this session of the Legislature, which leaves city and county officials pondering their next move concerning the planned Duck River reservoir.

State Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman, even though the schedule was tight to pass the bill in this session he was angered by what occurred in the Senate that led to the bill’s failure.

“Because it was a bill creating an authority it had to be handed differently than a typical local bill. I took it to the Judiciary Committee where it passed through. But when it made it to the floor, people started making deals and it got set aside,” Bussman said.

When Bussman saw what was happening, he responded by questioning more than 40 other bills that came up and caused many of them not to pass.

“Our bill got caught up in a deal-making situation between our party and the minority party. They very clearly knew mine was a local bill and needed to move. It infuriated me. I held those other bills in contest until the end of the day I let one or two out,” Bussman said.

Bussman said he sponsored the watershed authority bill because it was requested by county and city leadership. He said the bill would have only a small chance of being considered if the governor calls a special session, but in the next regular session it would be on the agenda again, for certain, if leaders at the local level still want that.

Cullman County associate commissioner Darrell Hicks said he is not certain what the next step would be concerning the watershed authority.

“We will have to get together with the city and discuss with them what they would like to do. I’m sure that will be happening very soon,” Hicks said. “I knew this was really a tight schedule to try to get this through. But we have several other options to discuss.”

The Cullman City Council and Cullman County Commission  both asked the local legislative delegation to introduce a statewide bill to form the new authority, which is requested in the city’s dam permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Officials initially approved plans to have the bill introduced a few months ago, though a technicality required it to be redone.

The state allows for the creation of watershed management authorities with a 50-mile radius, but Duck River is only 35-square-miles, so it would not have met the criteria. Local officials have been working with the legislature to draft a statewide bill that would allow projects such as Duck River to have a watershed management authority.

Though the bill had shifted from statewide to local, that was effectively the only change. As originally decided, the WMA would not seek any regulatory authority in the watershed, and property owners would remain under current state and federal environmental guidelines.

The need for regulatory control was included in the original permit from the late 1990s as a means to improve and maintain water quality, though those issues have since been resolved. In the years since the initial permit was granted, officials say state and federal regulations have more than filled the void to alleviate water quality concerns.

The WMA is intended to consist of 10 initial members, with appointments made by the city, county and other wholesale water customers. The board will also be tasked with forming a water management plan for the area.

Long-term plans call for the members of the WMA to eventually own the lake, based on the amount of water they purchase through the life of the 30-year bond to fund the project. The proposal states that ownership of the reservoir will ultimately vest in those water systems purchasing water from the Duck River reservoir in percentages of ownership commensurate with the percentages of water purchased.



* David Palmer may be contacted at 256-734-2131, ext. 213, or by email at dpalmer@cullmantimes.com