“16 years and five minutes!”

[Al Lee Gator]

Paulding County Commission Chairman David Austin and several other county and state officials gave a press conference last weekend to announce the final signing of long sought 404 Permit, a milestone in the process to build the Richland Creek Reservoir and insure the county’s water supply for decades to come. The event took place at Veterans Park in Dallas.

 

“It’s been 16 years and five minutes; 16 years to seek the permit and five minutes to sign it,” Austin told attendees on Saturday. “Is this it, you don’t need any blood? There are no bands playing? Austin quipped during his portion of the presentation last weekend regarding the actual document signing that occurred on October 9 concluding the 16-year process.

 

According to Kelly Comstock, the project’s chief engineer, the facility can affect the tri-state water wars favorably, freeing more water for other locales. But apart from that ongoing dispute, Paulding and the region will have secured its water source, he said.

 

“What this is, is a piece of the much larger puzzle that’s being worked out...that’s a part of the greater solution that will help,” Comstock said.

Paulding County has an agreement that runs until 2032 with Cobb-Marietta Water Authority, an independent state-chartered agency, which receives water from Lake Allatoona, a USCOE-controlled reservoir. Lake Allatoona has been the subject of multi-state, decades-long disputes over access and allocations, leaving Paulding County vulnerable to supply restrictions.

With the Richland Creek Reservoir project, says Comstock, the county can now build its own independent water supply and distribution system, with capacity modeled to serve residents for at least the next 50 years.

 

Katherine Zitsch, manager of the Natural Resources Division of the Atlanta Regional Commission, agrees, noting that the project "will allow Paulding County to pull off of the Cobb-Marietta system, which in turn gives Cobb-Marietta more water for its other customers.”

 

But Comstock said also that the connectivity between Cobb and Paulding will still be there in an emergency situation that could send water in either direction.

 

The reservoir is designed to yield about 35 million gallons per day and will provide about 3.43 billion gallons of water storage to support Paulding County.

 

Construction will likely begin sometime next year. The county will use state direct investment, low interest loans provided through GEFA and utility bonds to pay for the facility.

Atlanta Regional Commission population projections show Paulding growing to 255,000 residents by 2040. Paulding County remains among the fastest-growing in the state. Among Georgia’s 159 counties, Paulding is the 14th largest.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Al Lee Gator

[Mrs G]

Clever screen name, Welcome to Pcom!!

[gpatt0n]

I thought the lead was 15 years and 30 minutes ... and said so in the PHDs ... showing definitively that I can be wrong and that I can admit it

 

pubby