A rendering

of the proposed location of the Lake McIntosh reservoir between Coweta

and Fayette counties shows the lake will be adjacent to the McIntosh Estates

subdivision in east Coweta.

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.