Dam

Here's the latest. I don't know how long the link will last as it doesn't appear that the Cherokee Ledger News provides individual links to stories.

Construction on the dam has been completed for the Hickory Log Creek Reservoir.

The city of Canton recently was granted a permit by the state Department of Natural Resources to continue filling up the reservoir, and all of the phases for the reservoir are on schedule to be completed by January 2009.

Mayor Gene Hobgood said he thinks the reservoir, which borders the Bluffs of Technology Park in Canton, is a good addition to the city’s water system.

(Right: Cole Blackwell, reservoir manager, looks at the completed Hickory Log Creek Reservoir dam. Sarah E. Alexander | Ledger-News)

“We’re glad it’s completed and glad it’s getting filled up,” he said. “We’re hoping that it will get filled up and the rainfall will be adequate to allow us to pump from the river and finish filling it up.”

Cole Blackwell, reservoir manager, said the permit gives clearance to fill the reservoir beyond the elevation it currently is at, which is about 960 feet above sea level.

“We can fill the next 20 feet as quickly as we can. Then we’ll have to hold that elevation for 28 days and then we can go on with our next 20 feet. It follows that same pattern until we’re full,” he said.

Blackwell said the city recently awarded a bid for the pipeline project, which will link the dam to the pump station on Riverstone Parkway and allow water to flow from the Etowah River. He said the project should begin within a month and that construction should take between six and eight months to complete. He also said the pump station project is under way and should be completed in October.

“We hope to have all the phases done by late January 2009,” he said. “If all of the phases are finished timely and we get average rainfall, we’ll have it filled up late December of 2009.”

(Left: The City of Canton recently was granted a permit by the state Department of Natural Resources to continue filling up the reservoir. Sarah E. Alexander | Ledger-News)

According to Blackwell, the city currently is not using the reservoir right now, but it could this summer if it needed to if the Etowah River decreases below a certain level.

“There are about 300 million gallons in here right now, and, on average, the city uses somewhere around 3 million gallons a day, so we’ve got about 100 days of reserve supply,” he said.

The city of Canton and Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority (CCMWA) are splitting the costs of the joint reservoir project, with 75 percent from the CCMWA and 25 percent from the city. Both entities are to share in the daily draws of water during dry periods. While CCMWA is to receive 75 percent of 44 million gallons released during droughts, the city can withdraw 11 million gallons.