Lake McIntosh — The name has been around for more than three decades. Now there’s a dam and a filling lake to wear the name.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Fayette County Commission Chairman Herb Frady on Dec. 7 at the dedication ceremony for the Lake McIntosh reservoir. “Never have so many waited so long for this dedication. Tony (Parrott) and his staff made this happen.”
His comments and those of others came a short distance from the new dam on what will be Fayette County’s third drinking water reservoir.
Frady during the dedication recognized several current and former elected and appointed officials, consultants and others whose efforts spanning several decades culminated in the Dec. 7 ceremony.
“The (decades-long) continuity of this project shows the tenacity of the county and its leadership,” former Commission Chairman Jack Smith said.
Fayette County Water System Director Tony Parrott gave a brief history of the effort to bring the project to fruition.
Parrott said the site was initially identified by developers in 1962, just three years after Peachtree City was incorporated.
The lake site was purchased by Fayette County in the 1970s. It was in 1981 that the required 404 permit was submitted and then withdrawn over various state and environmental concerns.
The permit was re-submitted in 1998 and won approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July 2007. And in 2009 the Safe Dams program approved the project.
“There has been $22 million invested by the county in this project,” Parrott said.
The 650-acre lake is situated along portions of the west side of Peachtree City and straddles the Fayette-Coweta County line. Fed by Line Creek, the lake extends from just south of Ga. Highway 54 West southward to just north of Falcon Field. Most of the lake-front land is in Coweta County.
The dam is now complete and the lake is open for business: the business of providing another 10.4 million gallons per day of drinking water for Fayette County and its future.
The only hitch to filling the reservoir is the lack of available rain needed for the job.
Parrott said the current flow from Line Creek that will fill the lake amounts to only 2 million gallons per day (GPD). And Line Creek is required to have a 3 million GPD flow before water from the creek can be captured to fill the lake.
As it stands and given current drought conditions, it is currently unknown how long it will take the lake to fill.
Once filled sufficiently to produce, drinking water will be processed at the nearby county-owned Crosstown Water Treatment Plant on TDK Boulevard.
As important as it is, especially in times of drought, there will be more to Lake McIntosh than a reservoir for drinking water.
The property at the end of TDK Boulevard will include a family-friendly park with walking trails, a picnic pavilion, a playground, a gazebo, restrooms, boat ramps and docks and substantial parking for golf carts and automobiles.
Parrott said area residents will be able to enjoy the park amenities even before the lake is filled.
The remainder of the work at the site, along with road paving, is expected to be finished for the park to open in the spring.
