After 30 years of starts and stops, Lake McIntosh received its final permit from the Army Corps of Engineers this week.

“The true credit goes to those people who came before us,” said Fayette Commission Chairman Jack Smith during Thursday’s commission meeting.

The 650-acre reservoir will be located on Line Creek south of Ga. Highway 54. The site of the project was first identified as a possible lake site in the 1960s by developers who later abandoned the idea of building a lake when difficulties acquiring land were encountered.

“Rep. Lynn Westmoreland worked hard for us to get the final permit,” Smith added.

The proposed reservoir will yield 10.4 millions gallons per day for drinking water that will be processed at the Crosstown Water Treatment Plant on TDK Boulevard in Peachtree City, said county officials in a press release. After approval and final review of the plans, more visible work will begin. The construction of the lake and dam and bringing the facility to full operational status is estimated to take nearly four years.

“A special debt of gratitude is owed by the citizens of Fayette County to Bill McNally for spearheading this project over many, many years, to the past and present members of the Fayette County Water Committee and all those Commissioners who, over those same years, kept the hope alive that someday we would reach this summit,” Smith said in the press release.

Thursday’s annoucement marks the final step in a long and arduous process that first started in the 70s.

In March 2002 county officials filed for a federal environmental permit to build the lake.

In 2003, a rendering of the lake's proposed location showed the lake would border Peachtree City's Planterra Ridge subdivision on three sides.

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.

In 2007, 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.

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