Water summit planned at Horton Park

Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) represents the 13th Senate District, including Maury and Marshall counties along the Duck River. He also represents Lincoln County and western Rutherford County.

State and federal lawmakers, county mayors, and the leaders of water utilities have been invited to the water summit, Ketron said. He emphasized that adequate water for everyone is the goal; egos and turf battles must be left at the door; and no idea has been selected thus far.

Nevertheless, proposals have been kicked around for months.

Ideas that could be considered include creation of a regional water authority, which would require authorization from the Tennessee General Assembly, Ketron said during a telephone interview last week.

As envisioned by some area leaders, a water authority could sell income tax-free bonds to raise money needed for public works projects to ensure adequate water supplies for the five-county watershed and other areas, the Murfreesboro Republican said.

Ketron mentioned the idea of a large supply pipe from the Tennessee River, complete with pumps to bring water back up into the watershed. He agreed that water harvesting and all kinds of ideas should be discussed at the water utilities' summit.

Water harvesting diverts high flows during the rainy season to reservoirs which may include old quarries.

However, Ketron was clear about having a clean slate before brainstorming begins. He spoke of possibilities, instead of conclusions, which should emerge from the meeting.

"There's nothing on the table," he said. "We should have a brainstorming session and work on it jointly to make sure that all the residents and businesses along the Duck River have water. We should put all the ideas on the table."

Ketron said the idea of creating a regional water authority has been only discussed for nearly six years. He recalled going to a Duck River Agency meeting in 2002 when agency officials said they were working on it, "and now we're in a drought."

DRA, which is based in Shelbyville, was started in connection with TVA's Duck River project, which was to include dams at Normandy and Columbia. The Columbia project was later canceled. Rain over part of Coffee County flows into Normandy Lake and is held in reserve as a water source and for constant flow down the Duck River. Now, water supply is threatened by what some climatologists see as the third year of a five-year drought.

In five counties, utilities drawing water from the Duck River pay five cents per 1,000 gallons sold. DRA has received millions of dollars that way, but most of what it has bought with the money are studies, not public works projects, although repair of the Columbia city dam is funded by the DRA. It's contemplated doing the same for Shelbyville and Lewisburg dams. Regardless, the cost of public works projects to deal with the entire watershed would dwarf the DRA's treasury, even though it exceeds $10 million.

Experts quoted by Ketron estimated the cost of a pipeline from the Tennessee River up through the watershed at $1 million per mile. It is more than 50 miles downstream to the river.

"But what's expensive is when you have no water," Ketron said. "Next to air, water is the most valuable resource, and we just assume it's going to be there. It may be time to form a regional water authority" to sell bonds that would finance whatever construction project is selected.

Selecting a project and building support for a water authority may well come from the brainstorming session Ketron envisions lasting from 4-8 p.m. at Henry Horton State Park. It's not planned as a formal dinner meeting, although the park has a cafeteria.

"We may just take a break and go eat," Ketron said.

Other obstacles face the water utility chiefs who are invited to the brainstorming session, as Ketron learned over dinner with Gov. Phil Bredesen a few weeks ago.

Bredesen hosts dinners for state lawmakers' four legislative caucuses. During the Senate Republican Caucus dinner in the Tennessee Tower last month, Ketron said he told Bredesen his counties are in "the exceptional category of drought and I'd like his backing" on a solution.

"He said when he was mayor of Nashville, the egos and turf rights were the biggest hurdles," Ketron reported.

The senator's hometown of Murfreesboro was locked in a long federal case with Consolidated Utility District, the rural water service for Rutherford County. The issue was service area. Because of federal loans, the rural utility couldn't release areas with customers, or potential customers because it threatened CUD's revenue base. Similar conflicts exist in Marshall, Williamson and other counties where some leaders learned from Rutherford's stalemate.

County mayors, leaders of utilities, state and federal senators and representatives have been asked to attend Thursday's meeting, Ketron said.

Marshall County Commissioner Rocky Bowden, chairman of the county's Board of Public Utilities; his former colleague on the commission, Sam Smith; and a host of other utility leaders, including Commissioner Joe B. Brandon and MCBPU Superintendent Tommy Whaley lobbied their state lawmakers during the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts Legislative Meetings last month, according to MCBPU Office Manager Judy Crowson.

"They spoke with them about long-term water issues and what can be done," Crowson said. "The drought has not been relieved.

"There have been exceptional watershed problems in the area," she said. "There has been talk about a long and large water line. Sen. Ketron is looking for what the interest is in the idea."

Ketron said, "I'm reacting to a request from several utility districts at the hill."

The best-case scenario for the brainstorming session would be "what's in the best interest of the people," Ketron said. "I think everybody realizes the watershed above the dam is not big enough to sustain the growth in the south central area" of Tennessee.

"Revitalizing Columbia Dam is out," he said, indicating the idea was not worth discussing.

After TVA ended the Columbia Dam project, there was some discussion of a smaller dam at Fountain Creek, on the southern side of the Duck River between Lewisburg and Columbia. But Ketron said that won't work either, agreeing that there may be too many caves in the area to have a secure dam. And, there may have been too much growth around Fountain Creek since construction of Columbia Dam was stopped and the dam was demolished.

"So," he said, "the next thing that popped up was running two 60-inch pipes up the watershed to the dam (at Normandy) from the Tennessee River. And then we have to overcome the fact that TVA controls the Tennessee River. Going to the Cumberland River with a pipe would be good for Williamson and Rutherford, and maybe Maury. The Corps of Engineers controls that."

Regardless of which public works project seems feasible, one early step apparently must be chartering a water authority.

"If there's a consensus among everybody, we could always go to a delayed bill committee," Ketron said. His goal would be to get a bill "enacted before the recess in May, otherwise it would be in 2009," after an election and with a new array of legislators, the senator said. "Based on the weather reports, I'd like to see something before that."

The utilities' water summit would be an open meeting, so anyone could attend. Names of legislators mentioned as the likely participants include Sen. Jim Tracy and Rep. Curt Cobb, both of Shelbyville, as well as Sen. Doug Jackson of Dickson, Sen. Steve Roller of Morristown, Rep. Tom DuBois of Columbia, Rep. Eddie Bass of Prospect, Rep. Joey Hensley of Hohenwald and Rep. John Tidwell of New Johnsonville.

Ketron said he has spoken with various lawmakers about forming a water authority and various alternatives to be funded. U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn have been invited to send representatives, as have U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker.

Ketron has also invited county mayors, including Joe Boyd Liggett of Marshall and Eugene Ray of Bedford. County mayors have been asked to forward invitations to their local water utility leaders.