rendering of the proposed location of the Lake McIntosh reservoir between

Fayette and Coweta counties shows the lake would border Peachtree City's

Planterra Ridge subdivision on three sides.

The

rendering was displayed at a public information meeting about the project

Tuesday evening in Fayetteville. If Fayette County gets the necessary

federal and state permits to build the 650-acre lake, it will provide

approximately 8 million gallons of drinking water a day.

Construction

of the lake will take between two and three years from the time work begins

until the lake is filled, said Tommy Craig, an environmental attorney

from Covington who has coordinated the project for the county.

Craig

said he felt confident the project will get the go-ahead, although the

process of seeking the permits will likely be difficult at times. Although

the project disturbs a significant amount of wetlands, the other two alternatives

studied by the county would impact larger wetland areas, he said.

With

an estimated population of over 233,000 people in 2030, the county figures

it will need a daily water supply of 31.3 million gallons, Craig explained.

When

the county's future water needs were tabulated, several current water

sources were deemed to be unreliable because of drought conditions, Craig

said. Line Creek and Whitewater Creek, which combine for a capacity of

4.6 million gallons a day, and groundwater wells which can produce up

to 4.33 million gallons a day, fell into that category.

"This

is about making our community drought-proof," Craig said.

The

county also cannot count on purchasing up to 4 million gallons of water

a day from the city of Atlanta because that contract expires next year

and the cost could increase dramatically, Craig added.

The

county already owns the land for the project, which has been on the drawing

board since the early 1970s. County leaders later decided to build the

Lake Horton reservoir first.

Craig

said the Lake McIntosh plan has taken a while because of the need to compile

566 acres of land in other locations for wetland restoration, enhancement

and preservation purposes.

Those

properties were purchased with conservation easements that will last into

perpetuity, Craig added. The idea is to take the farmland and turn it

back into habitat for wildlife, he said.

The

county's plan involves damming up Line Creek to create the lake. The dam

will be located west of Dividend Drive and north of Kelly Drive in Peachtree

City.

There

are no federally protected species over six miles downstream from the

proposed dam, Craig said. The project will impact a historic site which

will be removed from the area and either displayed locally or sent to

the University of Georgia, Craig said.

Craig

declined to disclose the location of the historic site because it could

encourage others to loot the site before it can be properly excavated,

he said.

The

county's plan also calls for a 150-foot buffer protection area on either

side of streams and tributaries that feed into Line Creek to keep runoff

and sediment from entering the lake. This buffer would also extend around

the perimeter of Lake McIntosh, Craig said.

Dennis

Chase of the Line Creek Association questioned how the buffer area would

be enforced, particularly since some of the streams are in Coweta County,

which is outside of the Fayette County Commission's jurisdiction. The

Georgia Environmental Protection Division is ineffective in such matters,

Chase said.

Craig

replied that the Georgia Department of Community Affairs has employees

to "police" governmental compliance and can revoke their "qualified

local government" status, which affects a government's eligibility

for grants, among other things.

"There

are negative economic sanctions," Craig said.

Fayette

County will be aggressive in fighting runoff and sediment problems since

they can take away from the capacity of the lake, Craig said.

"We

are going to be real concerned about the water quality of this lake,"

Craig said.

The

county considered two other sites for the reservoir, one at the north

end of Whitewater Creek and one at the south end. The northern site was

not fully investigated since it would affect a large number of existing

homes, which would make the project much more expensive, Craig said.

The

southern site on Whitewater Creek would cause Starr's Mill to become inundated

with water, which is why it was not chosen as a reservoir site, Craig

added.

The

public meeting was attended by representatives of the U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers, which plays a pivotal role in whether to permit the Lake

McIntosh plan.

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