Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12B
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016
Basin Authority ponders water supply future
Just how long will the Bear
Creek Reservoir meet the
drinking water needs of res
idents of Barrow, Jackson,
Oconee and Athens-Clarke
counties before some addi
tional water supply is need
ed?
That, it appears, will be
on the Upper Oconee Basin
Water Authority’s agenda
during 2017, along with the
possibility of expanding the
capacity of the authority’s
water treatment plant.
The 505-acre reservoir
provides the primary source
of drinking water for Barrow,
Jackson and Oconee coun
ties, which get treated water
from the water plant. It is
also the backup supply for
Athens-Clarke, which gets
most of its water from the
North and Middle Oconee
rivers and taps the reservoir
only when it can’t meet its
needs from the rivers.
Currently, the authority
works on the decades-old
assumption that the 54 mil-
lion-gallon-per-day (gpd)
output of the reservoir will
meet those needs until 2048,
but the chairman of its Oper
ations Committee suggested
last week that it’s time to
revisit those calculations.
“What does the evolution
of our water supply look
like?” posed Wayne Haynie,
utility director for Oconee
County.
Oconee, he said, did a
water and sewerage study
in 2015 that projects a 1.5 to
2-percent annual growth in
water and sewerage use. It is
also the only county “flirting
with our entitlement share”
from the water treatment
plant, he added.
Haynie advised that he
wants the authority’s Oper
ations Committee and
Engineering Committee to
address the Oconee con
cerns with the other two
owners of the treatment
plant, Barrow and Jackson
Reservoir's
operating
costs to go
up in 2017
The cost of operating the
regional Bear Creek Reservoir
in southwest Jackson County is
projected to go up during 2017.
The Upper Oconee Basin
Water Authority voted last week
to send a proposed $7586 mil
lion budget out to the boards
of commissioners of Jackson,
Barrow, Athens-Clarke and
Oconee counties with the idea
of approving the budget at its
Nov. 16 meeting. Those groups
will have until Oct. 29 to com
ment on the budget.
The 2016 budget was $6.95
million, but has since been
revised to $6.74 million.
The 2017 budget projects
expenses of $5,651 million,
compared to $5.48 million in
the 2016 budget. If that hap
pens, the authority would have
$1.93 million left to help pay off
bonds and to contribute to its
capital replacement fund.
Major expenditures include
$1.09 million to Jacobs Engi
neering for managing the
reservoir and water treat
ment plant; $753,500 for util
ities, $337,500 for chemicals,
$381,500 for plant maintenance
and $365,000 for professional
services.
counties, “because we’re
in uncharted territory” and
“need the guidance and
want to press on.”
Oconee County owns 21.4
percent of the 21-million gpd
treatment plant, which puts
its entitlement share of that
facility at just shy of 5 mgd.
During the third week of
September, it averaged 3.37
mgd.
Barrow County’s 33.9
percent ownership entitles
it to 71 gpd, while Jackson
County’s 44.6-percent share
means it can take 9.35 gpd.
Neither of those counties is
approaching its entitlement
share.
Bobby Snipes, former
deputy manager of Ath
ens-Clarke and current
“owners’ representative” for
the authority, took it a step
further in regard to things
to consider during the next
year.
One is an upgrade to the
population projections in the
four counties and another
is the per capita water con
sumption “which tall trans
lates into demand,” and
what those numbers “sug
gest about the design life of
the Bear Creek Reservoir.”
Snipes said the original
projection was that the res
ervoir would be sufficient
to meet member counties’
needs through 2048, but
suggested that may have
changed.
In addition, Snipes pro
posed that the authority
revisit its drought manage
ment plan with the idea of
“increasing the duration of
the drought protection peri
od.”
“The original design was
a 90-day window,” Snipes
said. “Experience says that
is not enough.”
He asked members of
the authority to be thinking
about those issues in prepa
ration for taking them up in
2017.
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