Permit process for regional reservoir gets approval

By Debbie Ingram

Published: June 19, 2008

DALEVILLE — The quality of the water in a proposed reservoir to serve the region created a ripple Thursday morning during a Wiregrass Regional Reservoir Conference.

But it was just a small stone cast into a large pond, as agency partners voted unanimously to move forward with the reservoir permitting process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and, subsequently, with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

“Alabama is a water-rich state, but we have to face reality. We are going to have to have surface water to augment our ground water,” said Barbara Gibson, executive director of the Choctawhatchee, Pea and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Authority.

The $140 million reservoir has been talked about for 11 years as a means to meet long-range water needs of the area both for quality of life and as an economic development tool.

The selected reservoir site is on the Little Choctawhatchee River about two miles upstream of the Highway 123 bridge in Houston and Dale counties north of U.S. 84 West.

Those making the decision to move forward are those entities which have formed a reservoir partnership. This includes the municipalities of Ozark, Enterprise, Dothan, Daleville, Taylor, and Newton; the counties of Dale, Houston, Geneva and Coffee; and the water authorities and water boards of Dale County, Houston County, Coffee County and Ozark City.

Gibson called the reservoir “a wonderful opportunity” as the area battles continuous droughts and is involved in “water wars” with Georgia and Florida over Chattahoochee River water.

But a handful of the approximately 100 people at the conference objected to the location of the draw-down site of the 1,464-acre reservoir, in part because of Dothan wastewater.

Both the Beaver Creek and the Little Choctawhatchee Wastewater Treatment Plants discharge into the Little Choctawhatchee River. The Beaver Creek Plant has been over its discharge limits repeatedly over the last five years. The state is suing the city over these and other wastewater violations.

The discussion spurred comments about water quality and the rationale of the reservoir’s location.

“Wouldn’t it be better not to drink sewage water?” asked Joe Paul of Geneva. “Is it a good idea to drink sewage water or a bad idea?”

Officials said the water must meet government standards of quality.

The headwaters of the Little Choctawhatchee begin in the city of Dothan, and there is “a significant amount of wastewater” being discharged into the river, said Marlon Cook, manager of the hydrogeology group for the Geological Survey of Alabama.

“There are some water quality issues that will have to be dealt with,” he said. “We are a state agency, not an advocacy group. We collect the data .... These are local decisions based on what we have done. Hopefully, good science.”

Gibson said if there were serious objections to sites, it would have been raised in numerous studies which have been conducted.

“This will not be done in a haphazard way,” she said.

Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper Michael Mullen objects to the reservoir, saying it is not needed. Cook conceded other methods of obtaining water, which have included drawing it from the Chattahoochee River, will last for another 30 to 50 years.

Partners expect to pay for 65 percent of the reservoir cost with federal funding from the 2008 Water Resources Development Act, which has not yet been passed.

There was no discussion on paying the local $49 million match. However, the state has appropriated funds to pay for the application process and water quality monitoring required by ADEM. The partners’ vote to pursue the project allows that funding to be used; the funding is designated for 2008.

The permitting process will take up to two years and will include public hearings to collect data for an environmental impact statement.