Tapped out

Tapped out, pt.3
By William F. Grier, PE
Contributing writer

In 2000, after almost two decades of study on Lexington’s water supply problems by state groups and locally appointed commissions, the city of Lexington stood almost exactly where it had started on the matter. Improvements, such as valves to transfer water downstream from locks on the Kentucky River, were slow in coming, and different factions had spent most of their time debating the validity and necessity of the proposed options.

But during that year, while the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council was accepting the “Kentucky River Solution,” which held that Lexington’s water supply needs could be handled through improvements on the Kentucky River, a new, bright light moved upon the water supply stage: a regional water supply system concept. While all the planning and counterplanning was being done by groups advising the LFUCG Council, several managers of water systems adjacent to Fayette County had put their heads together with the idea of creating a regional water network to provide water to each other in time of need.

The Bluegrass Water Supply Consortium/Commission

One of the big selling points of the “regional concept” was that federal grants were available for regional water systems that were not available for individual projects. This concept was presented to the LFUCG Council in 2000, about the time the KWRRI submitted its final report, and they bought into the idea very quickly. The Kentucky American Water Company had pledged to abide by the decision of the LFUCG Council and stuck by this pledge, throwing its lot with the regional concept. The pipeline to Louisville was off the table.

The managers of many of the water systems in the Bluegrass area (and Kentucky American) organized themselves into an informal group called the Bluegrass Water Supply Consortium (Consortium). It had no legal status, but through the Bluegrass Area Development District, it obtained over $400,000 in federal/state funds to study how the regional concept could be put into effect.

This study looked at a wide variety of alternative water sources and ranked them in accordance with a rating system that included cost, constructability, and other factors. The rating chart in the first draft showed a water treatment plant in Pool 3 to have the highest rating, but a pipeline to Louisville showed the lowest cost. In the final issue of the study, the cost figures were changed so the Pool 3 water source had both the lowest cost and the best rating. A water treatment plant in Pool 3 remains today as the source of choice for the regional system.

Armed with this study, the Bluegrass Water Supply Consortium, in 2005, converted itself into the Bluegrass Water Supply Commission (BWSC), which has legal status. The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) has no jurisdiction over a Water Supply Commission, nor can a private water company like Kentucky American Water Company be a member of one. Kentucky American understood this and agreed to meet and cooperate with it.

The BWSC has obtained over $2 million in funding from a variety of state agencies, direct grants from the legislature, and two low-interest loans. This provides it with sufficient operational and administrative funds for several years, plus funds for minor engineering studies and some preliminary engineering for specific projects as well as options on land for a treatment plant. The member systems are expected to make minor contributions totaling about $35,000 per year.

The BWSC continues to look at various water supply options, including purchasing water from Louisville. A treatment plant on pool 3, however, has remained their source of choice. For a short time, it appeared that Frankfort would have some excess water to sell to the regional system, and some preliminary engineering was done on a pipeline route to connect Frankfort and Lexington. During the summer of 2005, however, Frankfort used all of its treatment capacity to supply its own needs and saw that it will have no water to sell to the regional system during a drought when the other systems need it. The BWSC still has the Frankfort-Lexington pipeline on paper, but it is unclear what water would go in it during a drought. Frankfort is also looking into expanding its treatment capacity to have water to sell to the regional system during a drought. More water is available to Frankfort, in Pool 4 as well as in Pool 3, because they are further downstream than the Kentucky American intake in Pool 9.

Kentucky American takes stock

In early 2006, the Kentucky American Water Company sat back and took a look at its overall water supply/treatment situation. Thanks to the Corps of Engineers and the Kentucky River Authority, most of the dams on the Kentucky River are in better condition than they were in 1988, but valves have given us the only “new” water we have since that time. Kentucky American saw that the amount of water that would be available during a major drought was totally inadequate to meet our present and growing needs. Additional treatment capacity was not the answer because during a major drought there would be inadequate water to treat. The same water supply problem was still there.

While looking at the overall water supply situation, Kentucky American also looked at the progress the Bluegrass Water Supply Consortium/Commission had made toward solving the problem in the last six years. When conceived, the regional concept was the bright light on the water supply stage, but, other than stacks of paper, there was little to show in the way of actually solving the problem. The hoped-for federal grants for regional water systems have not materialized nor has any member water system made a binding financial commitment to the BWSC. Without binding commitments or large federal grants, no major project can be funded or built.

In a March 2006 meeting with the PSC, Kentucky American announced that it would build its own treatment plant in Pool 3 and that it would be happy to sell water to the regional system. Its reasons for this move were that it was under an order from the PSC to solve its water shortage problem, that it had an obligation to customers to provide them with water, and that it could wait no longer for action by the BWSC to solve the problem. This announcement, of course, created considerable consternation in the ranks of the BWSC as it was looking to Kentucky American to pick up a large part of the tab for the projects in its plan. Kentucky American is now proceeding toward the construction of a water treatment plant on Pool 3, is preparing the necessary paperwork, and is getting the needed approvals in this regard. The company anticipates having a 20-mgd treatment plant in operation by the year 2010. The completion of this project will solve the Lexington water supply problem for the next 20+ years.

Since Kentucky American decided to build its own treatment plant, the BWSC is uncertain as to its future course of action. It has exercised an option for its separate treatment plant site bordering Pool 3 and has obtained a temporary withdrawal permit there, but is also continuing to look at other sources of water, including Louisville and the expansion of the Frankfort water plant. Kentucky American has offered to add sufficient treatment capacity to its Pool 3 plant to meet the needs of the BWSC with funds provided by the BWSC. This offer is now under consideration by the BWSC for in the amount of 5 to 9 mgd.

Time will tell if a real solution to our water problem is truly at hand. Kentucky American is very serious about its solution and has the funds and technical know-how to carry out its solution. The BWSC is also serious, but in order to build anything, it must first get federal grants and binding financial commitments from its member systems. The regional concept is, of course, highly valid. Whether or not the BWSC can build what it has planned to serve the other communities in the Bluegrass area remains to be seen.

The solution

In November, voters decided against the eminent domain acquisition of the Kentucky American Water Company. As far as our water supply problem is concerned, who owns and operates the water system is of no matter. The problem and its solution are the same either way.

History tells us that numerous government agencies, the Kentucky American Water Company, and some private groups have walked across our water supply problem stage. The volume of documents produced, some of which began in the 1970s, would fill a large bank of filing cabinets. To date the only thing actually done to improve our situation is the installation of the release valves in the dams. The total cost of these is in the $500,000 range. Why, then, has there been so much smoke and so little fire in putting a solution into effect?

The reason for the lack of positive action is that too many albeit well-meaning agencies, groups, and individuals have thrust themselves into our water supply picture to stop viable solutions or present unworkable ones. Only the Kentucky American Water Company, the Public Service Commission, and the Kentucky River Authority have any responsibility or authority in our water supply. Others want their voice or special interest to be the dominant factor in deciding how to solve the problem but take no responsibility for their actions. This has mired the solution waist deep in Kentucky River mud.

There are viable sources of water to meet our needs for years to come. Whichever of these is applied is of minor concern to us, the rate payers. Our water bills would show little difference between any of them.

The important thing, however, is for our water supplier, be it public or private, to proceed to develop a water source without hindrance from those who have no responsibility in water supply. By being our water supplier, the supplier takes on the responsibility to supply us with water and it must be able to do its job. After diligent study and analysis, the supplier should pick the solution which is shown to be in the best public interest, do it, and assume responsibility for it. It may or may not have the lowest cost, but that is only one of the criteria to determine the best, long-term solution.

We have just emerged from an unusually wet summer, but in reality we are living on borrowed time. When a major drought strikes, it gives no warning. We have no back-up water supply source. We, the taxpayers/water rate payers have already borne millions of dollars in costs and years of delay in solving the problem. A solution is in the works. The time has come now to let those responsible for our water supply do their job without further interference, and to hold them accountable.

In placing its desired solution in effect, the water supplier must, of course, abide by all laws regarding such construction and listen to comments from the public, but extra-legal or special-interest burdens must not be placed on the supplier. The past 18 years have shown that a solution cannot bear such burdens.

As with all public projects, 100 percent of the public will not be satisfied with any solution. The water supplier must accept this well-known fact and proceed. A secure water supply is one of our most cherished and valuable assets.