Somerset — Somerset Water Service Manager Charlie Dick and City Engineer Alex Godsey got to work quickly when they learned there was a possibility that Lake Cumberland’s levels could be lowered to a point that the water company would not be able to continue its operations.
In reaction to their fast reaction time, Gov. Ernie Fletcher also moved quickly to offer assistance at the state level.
Gov. Fletcher announced last week that the Kentucky Division of Water has approved the Somerset Water Service’s plans to modify its water intakes.
Dick says the city has also received verbal confirmation that financial assistance is on its way for the estimated $1.2 million undertaking.
The city applied for a grant in the amount of $565,000. Fletcher has said the Governor’s Office for Local Development (GOLD) is working on a state grant to repay Somerset for some of the project costs.
“The Governor’s Office for Local Development, along with the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority, is working diligently to locate available funding resources to address concerns related to the relocation of water intakes that serve more than 200,000 Kentucky citizens,” said Fletcher.
With the water intake modification plan in place, work on the project can begin as soon as the funding is received.
The water department’s engineers devised a modification in which three to four barges will serve as floating platforms for pipes that will extend 1,000 feet from the shore into the lake pool. Each barge will carry a pump to force lake water through the pipes to existing intakes. From that point, the water treatment procedure will continue as usual.
The modification will enable Somerset to continue to draw raw water if the Army Corps of Engineers decides to lower the lake even further during repairs to its impoundment, Wolf Creek Dam.
The Corps of Engineers anticipates the project to repair the leaking dam could take up to seven years.
Governor Fletcher has directed his administration to do everything possible to help communities in the Lake Cumberland area with issues related to the drawdown.
The Corps lowered the lake to 680 feet above sea level — 43 feet below normal and perilously close to water intake levels for Somerset and six other water systems that collectively supply 203,000 people in Adair, Clinton, Cumberland, Lincoln, McCreary, Monroe, Pulaski, Russell, and Wayne counties.
The Corps has advised local water systems that a lowering to 650 feet above sea level is a “real possibility.”
Dick said in-house preparation of the modification plan saved the city money and time.
“We are fortunate to have the technical expertise in our city engineer, Alex Godsey, and our plant superintendent, Kenneth Brinson, to put this plan together,” Dick said.
“We saved a lot of money doing this whole thing ourselves, and we’ve learned a lot along the way. I also appreciate all the help we’ve gotten from the Division of Water and Governor Fletcher’s administration. They’ve been very helpful working with us, and the whole thing has gone smoothly.”
Somerset’s plans were submitted to the Division of Water for review on Feb. 21, and were approved March 5.
“I commend the city of Somerset and the Division of Water for moving quickly to meet this emergency,” Fletcher said.
Division of Water Director David Morgan said Somerset is to be commended for its proactive approach to the issues facing the water plant as a result of the Corps of Engineers’ Wolf Creek Dam project.
“Thousands of residents in the Lake Cumberland area depend on the drinking water provided by the Somerset Water Service,” said Morgan.
“Their engineers and public officials have worked hard to come up with a practical plan that will allow them to continue to provide plentiful clean water well into the future.”
The Somerset plant provides water to a total population of 100,700. In addition to the 29,218 residents of the city of Somerset, the plant sells water to the Southeast Water Association of Tateville, the Southeast Water Association of Nelson Valley, Science Hill, the Western Pulaski Water District, and the city of Eubank. Eubank, in turn, sells water to a portion of the McKinney Water District.
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Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
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The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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That’s the idea organizers hope to get across Saturday night at Somerset Christian School, when Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meter speaks to all who choose to attend.
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