Sand Mountain Reporter

At a meeting organized by State Rep. Jeff McLaughlin, D-Guntersville, a representative of the Tennessee Valley Authority said his agency might have some problems with Blount County’s desire to extract a proposed 150 million gallons per day of water from Lake Guntersville.

McLaughlin was unavailable for comment Monday but Judy Miller of the Marshall County Legislative Office said he asked each city and water authority to pass a resolution on the matter and furnish it to him as soon as possible. McLaughlin has also requested a meeting with the governor to share the consensus of all the cities in Marshall County.

“We’re picking up a lot of steam from a lot of cities across the region, not just Guntersville where the intake would be,” Miller said.

“There is a lot of concern about inter-basin transfers, not unique to the Tennessee Valley,” said Gene Gibson, TVA’s manager of water supply.

“Many states, including a number of valley states, have instituted a requirement for governmental approval. There are no state laws in Alabama requiring state approval for transfers within state boundaries. Mississippi does not even recognize watersheds. Every transfer or extraction must be approved by the state. States handle it in different ways.”

He said the larger the amount of water to be transferred, the more difficult it will be to accommodate from a permitting standpoint.

“TVA’s position is basically non-committal,” Gibson said. “We have a process in place. Anyone who wants to transfer, building an intake structure to pull water out of the Tennessee River system must go through a permitting process, which looks at possible environmental and operational impacts. Public input will be essential.”

TVA would discuss the matter with all valley states since the river system belongs to all seven states.

“It will be prudent and necessary to do a thorough review. Only after go through that process are you in a position to say ‘This is reasonable’ or it isn’t. It is one thing if water taken out and redistributed downstream but this sounds like a 100 percent loss.”

Miller said McLaughlin met with the water authorities last week.

“Everyone seemed very united in their opinions that this is a matter we need to oppose. (McLaughlin) called on them to share their ideas on how to do that. Mr. Gibson’s presentation gave everyone a good view of where our water comes from systemwide, not just from Lake Guntersville. “

Gibson said the only contact TVA has had with Blount County’s water authority has been informal. The authority does not have a permit at this time and would have to go through a lengthly process application to get one.”

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