Water shortage plan being prepared by DRA

Nearly two years later, Murphy says he wants to be better prepared when such a situation arises again.

As a result, a comprehensive water supply plan to address concerns with shortages caused by drought conditions and how to meet future demands for Bedford and other counties in the Duck River watershed has been undertaken by the DRA.

And the first step in the plan will be an assessment for the need for additional water supplies, by looking at what is available in Normandy Reservoir and the Duck River, and projecting what future water demands may be.

During the height of the drought in January 2008, Normandy Reservoir reached a record low elevation that was 19 feet below the targeted summer pool level; local officials did not have a plan in place to deal with the water shortage.

Murphy said Thursday that the agency's goal is to have an insurance plan to keep a water shortage from occurring again "or at least keep us from a critical situation."

Findings by the agency will be released within the next week or so on its web site at duckriveragency.org and also during upcoming public open houses scheduled for later this month.

The events are to be held so that citizens can review and comment on the needs assessment, Murphy said. The assessment would help the agency predict when shortages could possibly occur.

Demands for water for domestic, commercial, industrial, and agricultural purposes are being projected using studies by the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as population projections developed by the University of Tennessee Center for Business and Economic Research, Murphy explained.

The Comprehensive Regional Water Supply Plan has been drawn up for Bedford, Coffee, Marshall, Maury, and southern Williamson counties with the idea to develop a plan with a 50-year projection and a 100-year planning horizon.

"We know as demand increases and possible changes in weather, at some point in the future, we could have a greater demand for water that is being supplied in the river," Murphy said.

The plan would "provide direction to the DRA for the management of available water resources, including the implementation of specific water supply infrastructure projects."

It will also include specific recommendations, including budgets and implementation time lines, on water supply and water management projects.

Murphy said some of the options being looked at comes from a TVA study released in 2000 entitled Future Water Supply Needs in the Upper Duck River Basin.

The TVA report presented several options for supplying more water to the Duck River, including transfer of water from Tim's Ford Reservoir to Normandy Reservoir by pipeline, building another reservoir in the downstream part of the Fountain Creek watershed, southeast of Columbia, constructing a water supply intake on the Duck River downstream from the mouth of Catheys Creek northwest of Columbia or raising the pool level of Normandy Lake.

Murphy said that legislation was passed in 2008 that made the agency go back and look at those four alternatives, "plus others we're wanting to add to it."

The TVA document is being used as a starting point, Murphy said and the open houses will give citizens an opportunity to come and take a look at the plan.

"We're trying to answer a lot of questions up front, so if we get in a certain scenario, everybody knows what we want to do before we get there," Murphy said.

The open houses will be conducted from 4 to 7 p.m. on the following dates:

* Sept. 22, Henry Horton State Park, Conference Room C

* Sept. 23, Manchester City Hall, Board Room

* Sept. 24, Maury County Court House, Commission Meeting Room