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Published March 24, 2006 11:01 pm - Officials oppose bill over access By Evan Belanger It was a last resort this week when County Commission Chairman Wiley Kitchens began a letter-writing campaign in opposition of a proposed bill that could hurt the county's future water rights.
The bill, which made it out House committee earlier this week despite protests from Rep. Jeremy Oden, R-Vinemont, will prohibit Cullman and other counties from drawing water from Tennessee River Basin through Morgan County. That will effectively block a proposed agreement between Cullman and Morgan county officials to allow Cullman to pipe water from the Tennessee River across Morgan County. Kitchens said that agreement has been in the works for more than a year. He also said the Cullman water systems need that water since current resources will likely not meet demand within 25 years. "We won't be the ones to deal with that, but the people that are growing up now will have to deal with a real water shortage," Kitchens said. "We need to do what's right today and not leave it for them to deal with later." Kitchens discounted a proposed dam on Duck River, saying legal battles and environmental concerns would prevent it from becoming a reality. While the bill's sponsor Rep. Bill Dukes, D-Decatur, was not available for comment Friday, according to Kitchens and Oden the proposed legislation is intended to keep large cities from drawing water across rural counties and damaging valuable water resources. Oden said it was direct a response to the Blount County Water Authority's failed attempt to draw raw water out of Lake Guntersville to sell to Birmingham. Both Kitchens and Oden said the Cullman water systems were being unfairly targeted because they have no intention of selling the water to any other place. "It would all be used right here at home, and we were willing to sign whatever agreement was necessary to assure them that we wouldn't try to sell it," Kitchens said. Kitchen's also said that in a conversations with Dukes, he had been promised on more than one occasion that the bill would not effect the proposed agreement between Cullman and Morgan counties. In addition, he said it unfairly targets customers in Morgan County that live inside the Tennessee River Basin, but are on the Cullman water systems. In frustration, Kitchens said he did the only thing left to do. He began sending letters to all of the Morgan County residents that reside inside the Cullman water systems coverage areas. The letter claimed that the proposed bill will cut the systems off from the valuable resources forever, and that the loss could result in increased water rates. Kitchens also asked the customers to contact their state representatives, listing their names, office and home phone numbers — even one mobile phone number. 
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