Friday, November 10, 2000
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Friday, November 10, 2000 |
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Commission says water needs will be met The following is a statement read by Commisisoner Lawrence Nelms regarding the county''s water situation. at the Nov.6 meeting of the Coweta County Board of Commissioners meeting. The statement was affirmed by all of the commisisoners. Coweta County knows the severity of the current water situation that has been caused by one of the worst droughts to ever hit this county. We also know what efforts have been taken by the county to acquire additional water resources to supplement current supplies. While we cannot do anything about the drought situation, we have been doing everything we can to supplement water supplies and look at emergency water sources to ensure our citizens have adequate water. We do not feel that we should cause unnecessary fear about a basic necessity of life. Coweta County has cooperated with Newnan Utilities on all water bans made necessary by the current drought. Coweta County has worked within timeframes established by Newnan Utilities for the acquisition of additional water resources. Coweta County has been planning for medium and long-term water supplies and has handled a request for short-term water supply. When Newnan Utilities indicated that a short-term water supply would be needed by the summer of 2001, the county acquired a minimum of 3 million gallons per day up to a maximum of 15 million gallons per day from the Atlanta Water System. The lines for the short-term water solution are planned for completion by July 1st. However, every effort will be made to speed up the time frame for completion of this project What planning has gone into the acquisition of additional water for our county? Well, we have been working with Fayette County for additional water supplies and we have a contract with the City of Griffin for 5-10 million gallons per day by the year 2004. The B.T. Brown Project is scheduled to provide 4 million gallons per day initially in 2003 with the potential of 8 million gallons per day with the addition of ground water resources. The water from the Atlanta Water System will be phased in through 2005. Dennis McEntire, General Manager of Newnan Utilities, has stated that the public understands the need for water restrictions because of a drought, but would not understand the need for water restrictions because of poor planning. Let's look at that a moment. As I have mentioned, Coweta County has been planning to supplement current water supplies to ensure adequate water for our citizens. Coweta County has been working with other entities to acquire additional water supplies, Coweta County has been working to bring B.T. Brown Project on line when feasible to do so. The B.T. Brown Reservoir was planned years ago by Coweta County as a water source for our county. The county has agreed to work with Newnan Utilities to acquire a long-term water supply from West Point Lake. Coweta County and Newnan Utilities have met a number of times to discuss the water situation, but no physical actions have been taken by Newnan Utilities to increase its water supply. It should be noted that Coweta County is a customer of Newnan Utilities; Newnan Utilities is the current water supplier for our area. In a 1995 article in the Newnan Times-Herald, Mr. McEntire stated that no one should worry because there was enough water and pumping capacity to serve everyone for at least 10 years. In 1999, Mr. McEntire noted in a letter that the excess capacity in the Newnan system should last close to 5 years. In a 1997 memorandum issued by a consultant hired by the Newnan Water, Sewerage and Light Commission and paid for by joint funding, Dieter Franz compared actual trends to 1995 projections in a long range water management study and noted that the trend followed a high growth scenario. Franz stated that should these trends continue, current raw water supply and treatment capacities would last into the year 2002. In an October 1999 meeting Mr. Franz did indicate that problems may occur in the summer of 2001, but in a November 1999 meeting, Newnan Utilities expressed concerns that capacity could be exceeded by the year 2004. Joint planning documents have indicated that additional water resources would be needed in 2002, 2004 and 2005. The differences in these numbers and dates can only mean that the drought is the major factor in the decreased water supplies in our area. A drought that is one of the most severe ever seen in our county, a drought that has affected the entire state and a drought that has resulted in exaggerated average day and peak day numbers for water use in Newnan and Coweta County. Newnan Utilities has committed to supply Coweta County with up to 5.8 million gallons per day through the year 2004. That commitment has been the basis for the county's plan for supplementing water supplies. Newnan Utilities states that its water system almost peaked capacity in May of this year. It should be noted that this was a one-day event and at that time there were no water restrictions in place to reduce the amount of water used. Since restrictions have been in place, Coweta County water customers have reduced their water use by an average of 39%. Additional restrictions are expected to reduce usage even more, resulting in lower peak demand. It is likely that the drought will still be affecting Coweta County well into the year 2001 because right now we need almost eight inches of rain to alleviate the drought conditions. Therefore; water use restrictions, which are the result of the drought, should be continued well into 2001 as a matter of good water system management, thus lowering peak demand. It is absurd to state that Coweta County does not know the severity of the water situation in our county. It is also absurd to say that there has been a lack of planning by the county for providing future water resources. There has been continued joint planning between the County and Newnan Utilities and your Board of Commissioners has made sure vital water negotiations with Fayette County have continued, that a contract has been signed with the City of Griffin for 5-10 million gallons of water per day, that the county will receive up to 15 million gallons of water per day from the Atlanta Water System and that the B.T. Brown Project is ready to supply from 4 to 8 million gallons of water per day. Your Board of Commissioners wants to assure everyone that we have been planning and will continue
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