Catoma water levels full

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January 15, 2007

By Evan Belanger The Cullman Times Mon Jan 15, 2007, 11:41 PM CST

Approximately four months after Mayor Don Green declared a state of emergency and initiated a voluntary water conservation program for all customers, the area’s main water reservoir is again full this week.

According to a representative at the Cullman Water Treatment Plant, water began pouring over the Lake Catoma spillway Dec. 26. It is the first time Catoma has been classified as full in several months.

“We’re always glad when it’s full,” Green said. “I had no reason to doubt it would happen. It usually happens this time of year.”

The announcement comes in conjunction with a previous comment from Green that Cullman’s water source is much more stable than originally thought.

In an interview earlier this month, he said engineering estimates made about 12 years ago led local planners to believe Catoma would be insufficient to meet city-county needs by about 2026, leading them to pursue the construction of a second reservoir on the Duck River in 2002.

While that project was bogged down in court for nearly five years — only recently getting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Green said recently he did not think the water shortage was as serious as previously predicted.

“I doubt if the Duck River project will ever be a reality, but it’s nice to have the option open to us still,” he said at the time.

Despite Catoma’s new-found stability, the future of water reserves in the Cullman area is still fairly uncertain.

At its last meeting in 2006, the Cullman County Commission approved the purchase of 25.79 acres of land by its own Water Department in neighboring Morgan County. According to County Water System Superintendent David Bussman, that land could allow the county to draw untreated water from the Tennessee River for future use in Cullman County.

Currently, the county purchases all of its water from the city of Cullman, accounting for about 40 percent of the area’s water usage.

Green said recently he was disappointed the county chose not to include the city in planning for the land purchase. In response, County Commission Chairman Wiley Kitchens said if the project becomes a reality, the city will probably be included.

If the city is not included, the county would have to build its own water treatment plant before the Tennessee River could be utilized. Other options for the county include purchasing treated water from the Morgan County Water Authority.

Thanks to drought-like conditions for much of 2006, Catoma’s water level dropped to 12-feet below normal this summer. Green said he would have called for mandatory conservation methods at 15 feet below normal.

In 1999 and 2000, the 600-acre lake dropped even lower than that, about 26 feet below normal. That led the city to add an extra two feet to the dam.

Among other voluntary requests made in the conservation program, residents and business owners were asked to limit washing cars, filling swimming pools and watering yards and gardens. It also asks restaurants owners not to serve water unless expressly requested by their customers.

According to the emergency conservation program, voluntary requests are made when the lake drops to 10 feet below normal. They become mandatory at 15 feet.

In October, the Cullman Water Treatment Plant was given the Optimized Plant Award by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for the high quality of its water in 2005. It is the second time the Cullman plant has received the award in the past three years.

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