The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) says the Governor’s Water Supply Program (GWSP) plans to invest up to $44.9 million in four strategically located reservoir and water supply projects.
Project Investment Details
The GWSP plans to invest in the expansion of the Indian Creek Reservoir by the Carroll County Water Authority; the construction of the Glades Reservoir by Hall County; the construction of the Richland Creek Reservoir by Paulding County; and a project to test deep aquifer production for the abatement of saltwater intrusion along the Georgia coast.
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs board of directors voted on November 6, 2013 to amend a 2012 resolution authorizing GEFA to manage $54.5 million in bond proceeds for state direct investment. The amendment extends GEFA’s authorization to serve as DCA’s agent for the 2013 water supply program projects. Of the $54.5 million, $9.56 million was previously allocated to two projects in August 2012.
GEFA Executive Director Kevin Clark says, “State direct investment through the Governor’s Water Supply Program presents a unique opportunity to capitalize on projects that address water challenges of broader significance to the state or a region of the state. These four projects are the best, most strategic investments the state can make at this time to secure water supply in the right places and to tackle some of Georgia’s most significant water supply challenges.”
Hall County – Glades Reservoir
The Glades Reservoir is an 850-acre planned drinking water supply reservoir, which is proposed as a pumped-storage reservoir located on Flat Creek in northern Hall County that would use an intake on the Chattahoochee River upstream of Lake Lanier to supplement inflows from Flat Creek in filling the reservoir. The Glades Reservoir will provide 11.7 billion gallons of water storage in the Chattahoochee River Basin.
The supplemental storage that the Glades project can provide can be achieved in a fashion that would not compromise the inflows that are relied upon to keep Lake Lanier as near normal pool as is possible. The sustainable yield that the additional storage a proposed Glades Reservoir could offer would be particularly useful during droughts in preserving Lake Lanier storage. Preserving or extending the water supply life of Lake Lanier would be beneficial to multiple water users beyond Hall County.
The combination of the potential strategic benefit of the project and the strong financial health of the applicant resulted in GEFA’s recommendation to begin negotiations with Hall County to acquire an ownership and operational interest in the Glades Reservoir project.
