Any business leader knows that rapid growth with finite resources will spell disaster without careful monitoring and strategic planning. At least with specialists or spare parts, there’s always a place to find more, but the same cannot be said of our air, land and water.

"The basic problem is that water is renewable, but it’s finite, so water supplies per person tend to decrease as population increases," said Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Amherst in an E Magazine article last fall.

Lexington is among the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. that don’t have a major river flowing through them. But the city’s growth will soon negate that fact, as its outer limits approach the Kentucky River.

It is that one river that’s filled with questions about Central Kentucky’s future: can it provide enough water at our current rate of growth, drought or no drought? What are the treatment and supply needs of communities surrounding Lexington? Is it possible that environmentalists might find themselves arguing for building or extending a dam?

In a city whose top problem is drainage, who would have thought we’d be debating a water shortage? But it’s just another manifestation of the running growth debate. Scenic corridors, farm size, airport expansion and sprawl are just a few of the issues that have arisen in Central Kentucky over the past several years, all inextricably tied to the choices residents have to make about population growth and development of land. Now water supply can join the parade, as citizens debate the validity of Kentucky-American Water Company’s (KAWC) proposal to pipe in Ohio River water to the Lexington area.

What goes around comes around

In late June, KAWC instituted voluntary odd-even watering guidelines, as the river pool from which Lexington draws its water was flowing at only 172 million gallons per day (mgd), or eight percent of normal. On June 22, 60 million gallons were withdrawn and treated, nearing the company’s treatment capacity of 65 mgd.

Since 1988, the local community has grown by about 20,000 people, 10,000 since 1994. The area’s current summer water usage is 48 mgd.

On June 3, 1999, the flow volume of the Kentucky River at Lock 10 in Winchester was a scant 288 mgd as the region continued to experience a moderate drought. It is just that scenario, as well as memories of the 1988 drought, that has spawned Kentucky-American’s pipeline plan. Studies indicate that current supply options would not be able to meet the demands of a 120-year drought, the most recent of which struck the area in 1930.

Or maybe we could survive it, though just barely. Like the turbid waters of the Kentucky, the deeper you dive into the pool of statistics and studies, the more murky the picture becomes.

"I’m just trying to make sure people stay inside the bounds of the facts," says Dr. Lindell Ormsbee of the Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute (KWRRI) at the University of Kentucky. "You’re constantly trying to counteract bad info."

"I read the reports and wonder myself about the complete accuracy of the matter," says Steve Reeder, chairman of the Kentucky River Authority. "We’re in the business and even we don’t know everything about it, so the people not in the business are doing a lot of guesswork."

"You’d like to think that this is a simple issue, but it isn’t," says KAWC President Roy Mundy. "We’ve been dealing with it for 10 years intensively and continue to root out the facts, making sure we’re on course and making the right decisions."

Basically, there are three choices: a pipeline, crest gates, or a high dam that would create a large lake near Lexington. The latter two options would require additional treatment facilities, while Kentucky-American’s pipeline would move water already treated by the publicly owned Louisville Water Company (LWC). (KAWC officials are all too aware of the negative implications of the mere word "pipeline," conjuring images of aboveground monstrosities. That’s why they’re careful to call it the Bluegrass Water Project.)

A 1996 study conducted by KWRRI places a pipeline as the third most economically sound solution, finding that a combination of low-level release valves and an off-stem reservoir not only costs less, but completely eliminates projected deficits.

At current estimates, crest gates would cost $16 million, compared with the pipeline’s $48 million. But it gets complicated quickly, because Central Kentucky is in dire need of treatment capacity as well as supply.

"Even if other solutions could be implemented," says Mundy, "the fact of the treatment plant deficit has to be added on top of those solutions. The monetary difference comes into play. It’s getting to the point where it doesn’t make any difference. We’d have to upgrade our facilities and distribution system. If you add it up, it’s about $45 million. Since the Bluegrass Water Project kills two birds with one stone, it is further and further in first place."

"Business people tend to want the pipeline because it would resolve any doubts as to shortages," says Reeder. "The [Kentucky River] Authority has taken a neutral position on the pipeline. Our membership has not voted for or against it. We don’t encourage or discourage alternative supplies, because the KRA has supply as one of its missions. That will be carried out irrespective of pipeline or not.

"We have voted to enter into a take or pay agreement with Kentucky-American, whose fees constitute 45 percent of our income. The company has agreed in principle. If they put a pipeline in and decrease use of our river water, we still need these fees. The documents have to be filed with the Public Service Commission, and we’re negotiating the terms with the company."

Reeder says the crest gate solution sounds feasible, but lacks the necessary study so far.

"One problem is that we have to have a geo-technical evaluation of the dams to see if they’ll hold one up," he points out. "The only way to find out is to do some analysis. We just voted at our last meeting to authorize a contract with an engineering company to do a study on Dam 10. With the lock renovation program going on, we do not have the budget to debt service the additional cost of crest gates. We need to have specific costs targeted."

"The dams on the Kentucky River were built for navigation, not supply or flood control," Mundy explains. "So the river was basically designed for one thing and now you have to change the ecostructure and the river’s dynamics when you try to create a water supply beyond what has been done in the past. That’s the challenge in making major decisions about the river. It will take a whole lot of time and a whole lot of money."

Adding to the complexity of the supply situation is the volume of pollutants and discharges that go into any major river every day. Whether it’s industrial, stormwater or agricultural runoff, keeping contaminants down requires that the flow of water maintain a high level. Every bit removed magnifies the effects of the permitted discharges.

It is ironic that a city with such huge drainage problems has to deal with a water shortage. Some have even floated the idea of making potable some of that runoff that presently goes to Pool No. 4.

"Lexington has a drainage problem, but it’s stormwater, which has no relationship to water supply," says Mundy. "If it’s dry enough to have a drought there are no drainage issues. Currently, effluent from the wastewater system flows into Pool 4 below the intake of Kentucky-American. There have been discussions nationally and internationally about using those effluents in a recycled manner. But, from a perceptual standpoint, the public thinks they’re getting back what they just gave. We do get some organic materials from Eastern Kentucky with all the straight pipes and septic systems, but we don’t get near the volume as you would if it were pumped directly into that pool.

"That’s one reason that the Ohio is good source -- dilution is the solution to pollution."

Many feel the watershed is the real issue.

"People have participated in the gradual destruction of the watershed of the Kentucky River for nearly a century," says the respected farmer, poet and essayist Wendell Berry. "A lot could have been done for the watershed, but Central Kentucky has been pretty indifferent. The major political issue is how to alert people to this.

"The issue is not the quantity of the runoff, but the speed of it," he continues. "Watershed ought to receive the water, absorb it and release it slowly. People ought to cut down on the amount of water they use as well. You don’t just keep counting on using unlimited amounts."

Ohio’s quality not an issue -- or is it?

One of the immediate concerns of people who hear about Ohio River drinking water is the quality. But eating fish out of the river is one thing, while drinking water that’s been treated by modern facilities is something else entirely.

Over 1.7 million Kentuckians already drink water from the Ohio. Recently, there has been research into the possibility of the Cincinnati water company supplying at least part of the growing needs of Northern Kentucky.

But what would happen if the 120-year drought strikes the Ohio as well as the Kentucky River?

"To put that in perspective," says Mundy, "in 1930, the Kentucky River was running at six mgd. The Ohio River had two billion gallons per day."

But in early June, there was a pithy reminder of what might happen when resources are pushed to the hilt by touted boons to the economy. Caesars Glory of Rome riverboat casino was forced to close down due to accumulated silt at its mooring and very low water levels in the Ohio. While water supply was in no danger, it was a timely caution about placing more demands on an already overtaxed natural infrastructure.

Vince Guenthner, manager of government affairs for LWC, commented on the potential for serving as a regional water supplier.

"We have a number of wholesale water agreements to surrounding counties -- Shelby, Oldham, Bullitt and the city of Taylorsville," he reported. "We have the capacity to be a regional water supplier. If it makes sense, good public policy, and both communities agree that it’s in best interest of all customers, then we have the capacity to sell water. If it makes sense to minimize the duplication of capital, then we’ll talk with anyone about providing them service if it makes sense. It has to be mutually beneficial.

"We have a combined flow of 240 mgd right now. Today’s capacity could meet the needs of all of Jefferson County as well as all of Fayette County."

"Obviously business and industry want unrestricted demand," says Ormsbee. "That implies excess capacity that’s just sitting there. Kentucky-American is not an unbiased participant in that discussion. But do we need to build for that much excess capacity?"

Demand management and conservation

In the case of a drought, KAWC projects 16 percent reduction in water use due to voluntary conservation. But once that process turns involuntary, look out.

"If you plan for demand management, that’s planning for failure," Mundy says. "You can say it’s not that big a deal, but if you’re the business shut down because limits are imposed, these are personal issues."

Even in a drought, the expectations of people used to a constant, unending water supply can defy common sense. Just ask Bob Riddle, general manager of Georgetown’s Municipal Water and Sewer District.

"In 1988, in the middle of a severe drought, we had a limited amount of water from our spring for six months. You’d be amazed -- people did not and would not restrict their use of water. We had our highest flows ever during those periods. Private landowners continued to irrigate. Controls on landowners and property rights begin to get complicated when it comes to use of water. But it becomes a problem for the water company to maintain service."

"One solution is limited growth," states Oscar Jeralds, two-time chair of the state Sierra Club chapter. "One of the reasons they want a pipeline is to develop a corridor from Louisville to Lexington. It’s just an extension of the unplanned growth, sprawl debate."

Even though the residents of the Lexington area use about a third less water than the national average, KAWC has had to implement portions of its demand management program during three of the past five summers. Last fall, the plant came perilously close to its treatment capacity, sending nearly 65 million gallons to Lexington on September 14th.

"This country uses an immense amount of water per person," says the Division of Water’s Dave Morgan. "A voluntary program can make a whale of a difference. Kentucky was the first state in the country to have a model statewide plan, done in 1986 and it’s about time to update it again. A lot of people think it’s something you do when there is a shortage, but a wise plan would take conservation into account as part of normal operations."

Planning process rarely flows smoothly

For the 16-member Water Supply Planning Commission, like any other planning body, the clunky process of planning has trickled on for over a year and a half. It comes as no surprise that those at opposite ends of the opinion spectrum tend to sit at opposite ends of the room. At the center sit chairman and city environmental engineer Jim Rebmann, criticized for his early and vocal opposition to crest gates, and city engineer Dale Thoma, brought in during the spring to facilitate, moderate and generally help to make a document occur.

But to have a debate, somebody has to show up. Even as late as Meeting Number 20 in early June, commission members were asking about how to go about expelling certain members who never seemed to make the meetings, thereby delaying a quorum and delaying progress. Three of those chronically absent members were elected council members.

The dynamics of the meetings have been contentious to be sure. But the Commission has to turn in a recommendation to the Kentucky Division of Water by July 15th. That deadline is a full year later than the Division of Water’s original plan.

But then, that’s what happens to plans. Dozens of possible solutions have been presented over the past 20 years, including the ill-fated Red River Gorge dam project. Mundy often reminds people that most of the options have been looked at for years, even decades. As far as he is concerned, it’s time for some action.

"We’ve looked at virtually 50 alternatives," he reiterates. "These are issues we visited first, hoping they would provide solutions, but the guarantee just isn’t there like it is with the Bluegrass Water Project."

One possible reason for the plodding pace of the area’s water planning process may paradoxically be the tremendous rate of growth Central Kentucky enjoys. Such expansion of population and enterprise not only presents ever-changing challenges, but a revolving audience of new residents to whom Mundy and others must explain the long-rejected alternatives.

"With the water quality issue, we’ve always been way ahead," he says. "With supply it takes so long to get ahead, you have to be way out there. We thought in 1970 that we had plenty of time to get this thing solved, going ahead with the Red River Dam project. We were way ahead, and look where we are now."

Some of the objections to the pipeline routing have raised concern about environmental degradation, as well as stymied productivity. It was for these reasons that the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association came out in opposition to the pipeline plan. In Woodford County, backers of a countywide historic preservation ordinance hope such a law will protect horse farms and other sites from the water company’s plans, especially near Midway and Old Frankfort Pike. But the PSC could override that law if it determines there is "no acceptable alternative site." Earlier this year, Lexington-Frankfort Scenic Corridor Inc. agreed to be silent during hearings if KAWC would route pipeline away from that scenic byway.

"Planning less than 20 years away is probably short-sighted," says Bob Riddle of Georgetown. "You need to be looking out there as far as 50 years if you can. Proper planning at the front end of any project will get you where you need to be. Georgetown probably wishes it had been in a little better position before."

"Before" refers to the 1989 gasoline contamination event in Georgetown’s water supply. The solution? A 16-inch, 20-mile pipeline, hooked into Frankfort’s water supply.

"It came on line in 1993," explains Riddle. "After it went in, there have been no complaints: no owners, citizens, customers. We use it daily, usually at night. It allows us to do maintenance on our system by having a redundant supply, which we were never able to do before.

"It increased fire protection water, and lately we’ve been able to reduce rates by five percent. It’s about paid off now. And we were able to increase growth."

Regional solutions

KAWC already serves Harrison, Bourbon, Jessamine, Scott and Woodford counties. And debate continues in Clark County as treatment capacity limits rears its head in that community.

Meanwhile, KAWC has notified Winchester Municipal Utilities of its intent to begin in October 2001 to supply potable water from its Lexington center of operations to much of what was formerly the Boonesboro Water Association.

So how can KAWC offer to sell water to Winchester while simultaneously broadcasting news of the imminent water shortage?

"Winchester currently withdraws water from the Kentucky River above Kentucky-American’s intake," said Mundy. "If they need additional water, they would either build additional facilities, take it from the river, and it would not get to us, or it would get to us and we would sell it back to Winchester. So the real issue becomes what is in the best interests of the Winchester customers. Their community is looking at a very significant capital expenditure -- $15-25 million -- for a treatment facility, and their customer base is about a tenth of ours. If we could supply that same water to them, and complement it with our Bluegrass Water Project, we could do it for around $2 million."

Meanwhile, in mid-June, the Frankfort Electric and Water Plant Board made its feelings known by unanimously approving a resolution that called for the Kentucky River Authority to have ownership and control of the proposed $48 million pipeline, and for LFUCG to look at purchasing KAWC.

"The Lexington-Fayette County Urban government should be able to choose its own destiny," said Clyde Baldwin, vice chairman of the board, in a Lexington Herald-Leader article. "(Kentucky-American) wants to have more customers and make a bigger profit. It’s all driven by that."

Perhaps the Frankfort board took its cue from Chattanooga, where the mayor is pushing hard for the city to purchase Tennessee-American Water Company, even though most of the populace favors the status quo.

"There is a much higher percentage of water districts and facilities nationally that are publicly owned," observes Mundy. "However, contrary to Chattanooga, you are starting to see privatization of those industries, because there is a lot of capital intensity coming forward with new safe drinking water standards, and municipalities have to outlay significant capital costs. They also need the expertise. So they’re looking to the private sector. Indianapolis privatized their wastewater system. Atlanta just went private. Birmingham is looking at privatization as well. It’s happening all over the country.

"The PSC has gone on record saying they encourage and almost mandate regional solutions to supply problems," says Mundy. "When you have more people paying, the rates decrease, and there’s a mass there to deal with critical issues, compared to small systems that can’t deal with them. Across the country you’re seeing the same thing, most of the time driven by economics. It’s not just water."

"Regionalization to some extent is essentially going to become a necessity," says the Commonwealth DOW’s Dave Morgan. "More regulations are coming down from the Safe Drinking Water Act, which mean upgrades of plants and testing. It will all get very expensive. Every system in the country will have to demonstrate it has the technical, financial and managerial capacity to run a system that meets federal and state standards. It may become impossible for smaller systems to meet this requirement.

"It’s a wise way to go at this point. In the future, it will be the necessary way to go."

Business community takes another look

During production, the Georgetown Toyota plant uses 1.3 mgd. While that figure may startle some, it’s run of the mill for manufacturing. Whether for cooling, production or heating, industry depends on a constant water supply. (In fact, 23 percent of the planet’s available freshwater is consumed by industrial use.) So one of the big reasons large companies in Central Kentucky and the Lexington Chamber of Commerce back the pipeline solution is that sense of a backup alternative.

"The Kentucky River doesn’t have a lot of traffic, so it’s not overly susceptible to spills," Mundy points out. "But in 1983, we had to shut down because of an oil spill. If something happens in the Kentucky River, we presently have all our eggs in one basket."

According to Mundy, if a drought of record were to occur this year, businesses like golf courses and car washes would probably have to shut down as significant demand management went into effect.

"A local employer had to shut down for 2 days because of snow, and it cost them $3 million," he cites. "If Toyota were to shut down for a few days, they would lose as much money as this entire project would cost."

Just say NOPE

Mustering opposition to the pipeline is the primary aim of a group called NOPE, as in NOPipE. The group counts among its members the Fayette County Farm Bureau and various historic neighborhood groups

Oscar Jeralds expresses the group’s position as well as his own, aligning themselves with Attorney General Ben Chandler in calling the project a subsidy of private enterprise.

Mundy beats back charges of corporate welfare with a simple recitation of the law and the status quo.

"The term ‘corporate welfare’ is laughable," he retorts. "The more customers a utility accesses, the more revenue they get, the lower the cost to the customer. More revenues don’t mean upping the rate of return. Development along the pipeline is not our issue. If we’re there, we have to serve, should development occur there. That is the domain of planning entities. If it happens, it’s up to the elected officials."

Running over

The emotional wrangling of the public debate and planning process will soon come to a brief end in the form of a recommendation to the PSC. Then the real action begins.

As Mundy expressed in a public meeting, "We didn’t just draw this up on the back of a cocktail napkin one day. We have been ordered to find a solution.The PSC has directed us to solve the problem, because we are the purveyor of water in this region."

"The Authority takes the position that this pipeline thing is a rate-oriented situation," says the KRA’s Reeder. "It’s between the proposed owners of the pipeline and the PSC. A rate hearing would have to follow. They don’t look at it as a cure. They look at what they do as what they have to do by law. The PSC has the whole deal."

"The River Authority has been disturbingly quiet," laments Jeralds. "They say it’s not their issue, so it’s troubling to a lot of people. Part of what is happening here is they put it off, then the water company walks in and says ‘here’s a plan’ and it relieves them of their failure to act."

"Lexington has been utterly careless about its water until it espies a shortage in the offing," says Wendell Berry.

In the end, charges of corporate welfare may give way to concern about the welfare of corporations. Like the industrial players whose plants they want to lure, economic development officials don’t want to have to worry about water being an issue.

Yet the course of growth can be changed, managed and modified. Business owners, citizens and planners alike hope that what’s global, what’s local and what’s natural will come to a balance -- however uneasy -- that will allow the region’s economy to seek its own level.

Adam Bruns is a staff writer for The Lane Report.

Back to July Issue