STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Carroll County Water Authority (Authority) proposes to construct a dam on Indian Creek to create a 643-acre, pump-storage water supply reservoir with a proposed safe yield of 18 million gallons of water per day to serve Carroll County through the year 2060. The reservoir would be supplemented by pumping water from the Little Tallapoosa River. The proposed project is located in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa Rivers Basin (ACT).
BACKGROUND: On January 8, 2009, the Authority submitted to the Savannah District an application for an individual Section 404 Department of the Army permit. Additional information was submitted and a Joint Public Notice was published by the Savannah District and the State of Georgia on January 13, 2010. Proposed impacts to jurisdictional waters would include approximately 18.8 acres of wetlands and 47,468 linear feet of streams. The Authority has proposed use of a permittee-responsible mitigation site to compensate for unavoidable impacts associated with construction of the proposed reservoir.
CURRENT STATUS: The Authority submitted hydrologic modeling data to assess the potential impacts of the proposed reservoirs on Federal projects operated by Mobile District. Coordination with Mobile District was completed on June 10, 2015, with a determination by Mobile District that the proposed project would have no effect on its Federal projects.
On October 13, 2015, the State Historic Preservation Office concurred with the Savannah District’s “No Effect” determination (no eligible historic or cultural sites within the project area). Informal endangered species consultation was completed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on November 16, 2015, with a “May Affect, but Not Likely to Adversely Affect” determination (no endangered bats within project area).
On September 30, 2015, the Authority requested that the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (Georgia EPD) review and approve revised population projections based on the 2015 Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget population projections for Carroll County. Georgia EPD and the Authority are currently exploring alternative project purposes that might better meet the needs of the Authority and downstream water users. The Georgia EPD has not issued the required Section 401 Water Quality Certification and water withdrawal permits for the project.
DISTRICT POC: Elisha Brannon, Regulatory Division, (678) 804-5226.