Future Paulding County Reservoir Gets Boost From State

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January 6th, 2016

The future Richland Creek Reservoir in Paulding County will be filled with water pumped in from the Etowah River (pictured).

Thomson200 / Wikimedia Commons

Paulding County currently does not have its own water supply, but that could change sooner than expected.

The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) recently announced that it is giving $15 million to Paulding County for a 13-mile pipeline that will connect the future Richland Creek Reservoir to customers.

“Paulding County actually is one of the only counties in the metropolitan Atlanta area that doesn’t have its own drinking water supply source,” said Kelly Comstock, the water project’s program manager. He said the reservoir will provide a more reliable water supply to the area.  

Right now, the county gets its water from the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, which gets its water from Lake Allatoona.

Map showing the plans for the Richland Creek Reservoir in Paulding County. CREDIT RICHLAND CREEK RESERVOIR PROGRAM-PAULDING COUNTY

“The state’s goal in making that investment was to accelerate the timeline for Paulding County transitioning off Cobb-Marietta,” said Andrew Morris, who manages GEFA’s Governor’s Watery Supply Program, a program intended to support and fund water projects around the state.

Paulding County said the money will speed the project up by about a decade, and now expects it to be complete by 2019. Work is expected to begin later this year.

 But not everyone is thrilled. Gil Rogers, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the reservoir is not needed and is a waste of taxpayer money.

“The state should be looking at more cost-effective water management options,” Rogers said.

The new reservoir will be on Richland Creek, but will be filled with water pumped in from the Etowah River, downstream of Lake Allatoona.

 

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