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Quietly, Lake Mac emerges from bureacratic backlogs

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources are still evaluating Fayette County’s plans to build the Lake McIntosh reservoir along the county’s western border with Coweta County, officials said.

Jim Mallett, the county’s consulting engineer, said it could be spring before a final answer is rendered for the project, which would provide an estimated 8 million gallons a day of drinking water.

That would supplement the county’s current drinking water production of up to 20.375 million gallons a day.

“We’re pushing hard to know something by the end of the year but I don’t know if that’s going to work out or not,” Mallett said. “Maybe we’ll get a Christmas present.”

The plans for a Lake Mac began in the late 1970s and foundered on strong opposition from Coweta County interests in the early 1980s. Mallett was involved in that early project as well, as was current Fayette County Attorney Bill McNally.

Tommy Craig, the Covington attorney who is helping Fayette with the application process, said the Lake Mac project will “end up setting the record” for environmental mitigation since some more than 400 acres of wetlands will be replaced. That is in large part in due to the geographical layout of Fayette County and the large amount of wetlands associated with the Flint River in particular, Craig noted.

Because there are still questions about the mitigation plan that will be required for the reservoir, new cost estimates have not been formulated, Mallett said. Back in 1990, the projected cost was $12.97 million.

The proposed lake itself encompasses 650 acres and would be located on Line Creek, which naturally divides part of Fayette and Coweta counties. The county already owns the land for the reservoir, which would border the Planterra Ridge subdivision in Peachtree City to the east and unincorporated Coweta County to the west.

The site is also near the county’s water treatment plant on Crosstown Road in Peachtree City.

Craig said the Corps of Engineers and DNR officials are still working on the county’s permit for the reservoir.

“The Corps has shown a great deal of interest in finishing the permitting process,” Craig said.

One factor strongly in the county’s favor is the use of zoning rules to protect stream corridors, Craig noted.

Mallett said the projected capacity of the lake could increase some from 8 million gallons a day due to new regulations adopted by the DNR.