Exactly who will eventually own the Duck River reservoir — and control the watershed around it — became clearer Tuesday, with the introduction of a new Watershed Management Authority (WMA) proposal.

Written in the form of a legislative bill officials hope will be introduced later this month, the new 10-member board will be comprised of three city appointments, three county appointments, and one appointment from each major wholesale city water customer.

The Cullman Utilities Board approved a request to create the board at a special meeting Tuesday, and Cullman County commissioners James Graves and Darrell Hicks were on hand to support the measure.

One key aspect of the proposal notes the WMA will not seek any additional regulatory control over the 37-square-mile Duck River watershed in northeast Cullman County, which is already subject to Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines.

“We believe [water quality control] can best be accomplished by utilizing existing state and federal regulatory agencies to have the same responsibilities in the Duck River drainage basin that they exercise over every watershed in Alabama,” Cullman Mayor Max Townson stated in a release. “Local regulatory authority is not needed in the Duck River watershed ... Any landowner activity allowed in the Duck River drainage basin today will be allowed when the new authority is formed.”

Duck River project manager Dale Greer said regulatory authority was included in the original permit from the late 1990s as a means to improve and maintain water quality, though those concerns have long since been resolved.

“When we were looking at that in the mid-90s, ADEM didn’t have some of the same regulations they do today, and there actually were some water quality issues in the watershed at that time,” he said. “But, now ADEM does have those regulations to assure water quality in the drainage basin. We’ll utilize ADEM, Soil and Water Conservation, NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) and EPA for water quality assurance. The farmers are really doing what needs to be done out there, so there really aren’t any problems.”

The Duck River dam project is estimated to cost approximately $68 million to complete, and officials hope construction can begin this spring.



Board make-up

Under the current proposal, the WMA would consist of 10 initial members. The city would make three appointments; the county would make three appointments; the Vinemont Anon West Point (VAW) would make one appointment; East Cullman would make one appointment; Walter would make one appointment; and Johnson’s Crossing would make one appointment.

The format will allow every major wholesale water customer a place on the board, and members will serve four year terms. Greer said the utilities board is in talks to potentially add the Hanceville water system, which uses local wells as a water supply but purchases some water from the city, to the board soon.

The board structure should also allow for future growth, as any additional water system could be added to the board by a vote of at least six members.

“So, if someone else came in and added a new water system, they could be added to the board at that point by a majority vote,” utilities board member Dr. Steve Murphree said.

One major responsibility the board will be tasked with is the creation of a water management plan for the area.

“The water management plan will need to be updated annually, so the board will likely get with ADEM to set goals and put that together,” project coordinator Susan Eller said.

Positions on the board are unpaid, and the WMA will be subject to audits by the State Examiners of Public Accounts.



The water systems will eventually take over

Once bonds are repaid for the construction of the Duck River reservoir, a process estimated to last approximately 30 years, the separate water systems involved will each own a share of the lake.

Per the proposed bill: “It is intended 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.”

City attorney Roy Williams said this point fulfills a pledge made by local officials decades ago, when the project was still in it’s infancy.

“You’re using this to realize the promise made by the city and county originally, for everyone to have ownership, and I think that’s a good thing,” he said.

County commission chairman Graves said he believes the eventual ownership split will give everyone in the county a vested interest in the project.

“I think the people of Cullman County will see this as being included,” he said. “Even though ownership won’t come until the end, we’ll still have a voice, with three votes on that board. I believe this is a really positive thing.”

The concept of a watershed management authority has existed ever since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers originally green lit the dam project in the late 1990s, and Greer said the new WMA merely represents the latest evolution.

“That is a part of the 404 (U.S. Army Corps) permit originally, going all the way back,” he said.

Greer noted the rarely-assembled Cullman-Morgan Water District, which was formed in the 1990s to consider water source options, as one of the first iterations of a community board. That board is also one of three entities, including the City of Cullman and utilities board, included on the dam permit.

“That board’s only role back then was to look over the information and make a recommendation on what should be done, and they recommended Duck River,” he said. “But, when we were tied up in litigation (an environmental suit that has since been resolved) we reincorporated to keep it going, because they were listed in the suit. But, that board’s role has already been met.”



* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.