![]() The authority’s review found several serious flaws in the plan, for which the county paid Krebs Engineering over $200,000. It is on this basis that the authority has advised against construction of Bear Creek until the customer base is large enough to fund such a project.Ĭhairman Keith Ellis said he had read the authority’s review of the unfinished Master Water Plan but would not comment. Taken together, the documents concluded that Newton County’s current water resources are sufficient to carry it forward for several decades. ![]() The technical memorandum’s findings echoe those of a key study, called a safe yield analysis, commissioned by and released to the authority’s board this week, as well as an independent review the authority commissioned of the draft Master Water Plan. ![]() “Numbers, reports and statistics can be manipulated for any reason,” said Nord, adding that the authority did not have all the necessary facts to make such a judgment. Nord called the authority’s report “misleading” and said the plant was operating exactly as it was designed to. “The lake level fluctuations would have been minimal if this had been implemented the past eight years.” “An important conclusion from this review is that there is no immediate source water problem if the Lake Varner reservoir is properly managed,” the memorandum concluded. “It is of grave concern that the reservoir has been unnecessarily allowed to get to dangerously low levels several times during the last eight years.” “The operational philosophy of a pumped-storage reservoir should be, at minimum, to endeavor to keep the lake as full as possible,” it continued. “During the eight years covered by this review, which includes the 2007-2008 historic drought period, the staff has only pumped 9% of the total available flow during the May-November time periods each year…During this time period each year the lake level is consistently falling according to the attached information provided by the WTP staff to NCWSA,” the memorandum said. Nord was responding to a technical memorandum by the Newton County Water and Sewerage Authority that found fault with the county’s pump management system. “I don’t work for politicians I work for the citizens of Newton County.” “Tommy Craig doesn’t call me and tell me when to turn the pump on or off,” said Nord. He took the photographs, and did not think their presentation was misleading. Newton County Water Resources Director Jason Nord confirmed that the county does not run the pumps often in the summer months to save energy and costs, and to reduce negative impacts on the environment and the quality of water. The photograph was taken on November 4, and the pumps were turned back on November 24. Craig has been acting as water consultant and project manager for Bear Creek since the county began pursuing it in 1996.Ĭraig did not note in his presentation that the diversion pumps that fill Lake Varner had been turned off since April 29. It was meant to emphasize the need for a new water source for the county - Bear Creek. The photographs showed Lake Varner’s water levels at a critically low level, its banks exposed, and dry islands rising above the surface. On November 5, 2014, County Attorney Tommy Craig posted an alarming series of photographs at a work session for the proposed Bear Creek Reservoir. Great reporting! Problem Lies in Water Management, not Supply: Water Authority The link does not go directly to the article. The last blog had a link to the Covington News investigative article that reveals information about Tommy Craig and Bear Creek Reservoir.
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