The planned Lake McIntosh water reservoir, which would be built on Line Creek between Fayette and Coweta counties, is still in a holding pattern.

Fayette County officials are waiting to find out if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will grant what is called a 404 permit, which will allow the county to disturb Line Creek to create the reservoir.

Fayette County Attorney Bill McNally, who is the project manager for Lake McIntosh, said Friday that the county has done its best to address all of the corps’ concerns about the project. The plan is to dam up Line Creek to create the lake pool, which would provide up to 8 million gallons per day of drinking water to the county. That’s enough water to support 56,000 additional residents, according to county data.

The county currently has a capacity of producing 20.3 million gallons a day on its own to support a population of up to 142,960, meaning that the addition of the 650-acre Lake McIntosh will support more than 200,000 people living in Fayette.

McNally said it’s a guess, but he hopes to hear back from the Corps of Engineers within 90 to 120 days about the status of the permit application. When the permit is approved, the county will make sure to alert the media so citizens can be notified, McNally added.

“We’re just at that point where we’re in a waiting period,” McNally said.

The initial cost projections for the lake’s construction, done years ago, are outdated but the county hasn’t yet updated those figures, McNally said. That will happen when the project comes closer to going out for bid, which can’t occur until the permit is approved.

In 2004, the county’s consulting engineer guessed that the project cost could run around $10 million. The county already owns the land needed for the lake pool and has also acquired other wetlands to protect as mitigation for the ecological impact of the project.

It is estimated that lake construction could be complete within two years.

Once the permit is in hand, the county can proceed with seeking bids for construction, particularly for the lake’s dam, McNally said. Although the county could proceed now with some of the other preliminary steps toward construction, everything is on hold until the 404 permit decision comes from the Corps of Engineers, he added.

Lake Mac has been planned for more than a quarter-century, but stiff opposition from Coweta landowners stalled it in the early 1980s. The county went ahead and built an immediate alternative, Lake Kedron in Peachtree City. Since then, the county has built and added Lake Horton to its reservoir system.