CullmanTimes.com, Cullman, Alabama

Local News

November 3, 2009

Poultry farmers: Keep water rates low

By Trent Moore

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  • Poultry farmer Terry Carr adjusts the watering system in his chicken house Monday morning. Trent Moore

    Poultry farmers: Keep water rates low

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For poultry farmer Dale Harbin, the secondary water source debate has a simple solution: Just keep the rates low.

“They should just do the most cost-effective plan, whatever that is,” the Holly Pond resident said. “The water rates are very important for poultry farmers, because of how much we use.”

A typical 500-foot chicken house can use up to 15,000 gallons per day, mostly for drinking water and a cooling system, Harbin said.

“Even at the current rates, I’ve had as high as $800 for one month’s water bill,” he said. “If the rates get any higher, it could really hurt us.”

Cullman city and county officials are currently at a stalemate in regards to which direction the area should take for a future, secondary source of water.

The city’s proposal would create a dam at Duck River, establishing 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. The project is expected to generate as many as 1,000 jobs.

The county’s plan includes upgrading the treatment facilities at Lake Catoma and constructing a new treatment facility that would pump water from Smith Lake. Included in the proposal is the creation a regional water board to oversee water distribution in the county.

Currently, the city — through the Cullman Utilities Board — controls and sells all water distributed from Lake Catoma.

Customer water rates are expected to increase regardless of which plan is implemented, though the increase would likely be lower if the two work together on the same project.

Cullman County is one of the largest poultry-producing areas in the Southeast, which means the water decision could have a major impact on the local economy.

“Whichever way they go, they need to make sure the water rates don’t go up,” poultry farmer Terry Carr said. “That’s what we’re most worried about.”

Fellow poultry farmer Chad Fetter said he is for whichever project will keep rates down — though he thinks Duck River is the best option.

“The Duck River Dam seems like the way to go,” he said. “We really do need a back-up water source.”

The discussions for a secondary water source became all the more important in 2007, when the area faced extreme drought conditions that nearly depleted the Lake Catoma water supply.

Harbin said the drought was a trying time for the local poultry industry.

“It was tough, but we managed to keep the water on and we didn’t run out,” he said. “[The city and county] don’t need to drag this out, because if we go through some dry years again we could be hurting.”

Many local poultry farmers took matters into their own hands after the drought, Harbin said.

“A lot of people — and I’m one of them — dug wells after that,” he said. “We’ll just do what we can to keep going.”

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

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