News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cumberland Plateau Water Authority Board will meet with the county’s five utilities Thursday to discuss combining resources.
Authority Chair Greg Hanson said the benefits of the region’s five utilities joining the regional authority included state financial incentives, better water, and better customer rates. But Hanson also shared that some incentives are restrictive.
“One of the things that was included in the language of our act is that going forward the only water withdrawal permits that will be reviewed and approved by TDEC are those that are submitted by the water authority itself,” Hanson said.
Hanson said it is necessary to move towards regionalization to continue access for permitting.
Hanson said ideally there would be a shared water resource available to the county. He said there were various ways to do this, but it would take a long time.
“One of our speakers is Michael Adams of the Dickson Water Authority,” Hanson said. “The message he is going to share with us is the process they went through and the time it took, and I believe it was as much as 15 years.”
Hanson said that Adams had first-hand knowledge of forming the only existing regional water authority in Tennessee and would share the benefits Dickson had realized.
The public is welcome to the Cumberland Plateau Water Authority Summit on August 24, beginning at 8:00 a.m. at the Homestead Harvest Restaurant Conference Room at Cumberland Mountain State Park.
