City Council Looks to Again Move Forward with Raw Water Supply Project

During the Crossville city council's February work session, the council heard the results of a study on the area's raw water supply prepared by the engineering firm of J. R. Wauford.

Engineer Greg Davenport presented the findings to the council and after a lengthy discussion, Davenport recommended that the city set up a meeting with the US Army Corps of Engineers to determine the direction of the next steps for the planning necessary to move forward. The city has been looking to raise its Meadow Park Lake Dam for a number of years in order to expand the capacity of Meadow Park Lake as a raw water reservoir.

Engineer Greg Davenport, standing, with the J.R. Wauford 

firm goes over the company's report on raw water supply 

needs for Crossville with members of the city council.

Davenport reported that the area of Crossville and Cumberland County is growing at a fast rate currently about 30 percent over 20 years but had grown even faster than that in previous times. “Sometime in the future, a new raw water source will be needed,” advised Davenport.

Crossville has been talking about raw water supply for the community for at least 20 years and the Wauford report looked at the previous studies on the topic and then looked to forecast water usage out 20 and 50 years into the future and determine the alternatives to supply water as needed.

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One of the question marks in the study is whether or not additional utility districts may buy water from Crossville in the future including Crab Orchard Utility District and the West Cumberland Utility District. Davenport said that Crab Orchard is currently looking at future needs and attempting to add at some water harvesting projects that might be difficult to permit. West Cumberland is currently looking to Crossville as a supplier rather than the current Bondecroft Utility District.

A number of years ago the city looked at the possibility of building a completely new lake but environmental issues lead them in another direction.  There are some potential problems with the Meadow Park Lake project that need further consideration.  The only other main supply option is to build a line and pump raw water up from Watts Bar Lake.  Most plateau residents have expressed opposition to such a plan.

The potential needs of the community include residential, utility districts and an industrial growth allowance as well. Davenport explained that when the city reaches 80 percent of its water production capacity it was required by the state to start planning for future expansion.