Crossville Officials discussed the long-term timeline and necessity of the Meadow Park Lake Dam project during a work session Tuesday.
Consulting Engineer Kevin Young presented data regarding Cumberland County’s current water usage versus projected needs through the year 2075. He reviewed the “safe yield” capacity of existing reservoirs to explain the scope of the proposed project application.
“You’re in good shape today, but developing a water supply is a decades long process,” Young said. “And so that’s why we are where we are today and why it’s important if you want to ensure that there’s an adequate water supply in the county over the next 50 years that you move forward with it because it takes a while.”
Young said the county currently uses about 7.1 million gallons of raw water per day, but that number is expected to rise to 13 million gallons by 2075. He said the combined safe yield of Lake Holiday, Arbor Creek, and Meadow Park Lake currently totals approximately 10.4 million gallons per day.
“So 13 minus 10.4, we need 2.6 million gallons a day of additional water supply,” Young said.
Young estimated the total project to raise the dam at Meadow Park Lake, some $60 Million.
Young said defining the specific purpose of the project is critical for the Corps of Engineers permit application to avoid legal challenges. He noted that federal judges have halted other projects due to misstated purposes.
“The overall purpose of the project action proposed in this application is to provide approximately 2.6 million gallons a day of additional safe yield,” Young said. “And some people call that firm yield. Raw water supply to meet the projected raw water demand needs for Cumberland County for the next 50 years with water of a quality comparable to the water now delivered to its customers.”
Young reminded officials that these infrastructure projects involve many moving parts and require significant time to complete. He referenced a previous project that took 14 years to finish.
“I told you the first time I met you all that the last one of these I did took 14 years, and I didn’t think this one would take that long,” Young said. “And I still don’t think it’s gonna take that long, but it’s gonna be closer to that than not.”
Crossville Officials are considering whether partnering with the Cumberland Plateau Water Authority on the project might make sense for all ratepayers in the county.