Kevin Young of JR Wauford & Company Consulting Engineers Inc. delivered an update to the Crossville city council yesterday explaining a projected timeline as well as possible expenditures for an upcoming water supply project to take place at meadow Park lake, which would include a new dam being built there.

“Cumberland County is at a significant risk of having to ration water sometime in the next 50 years in the case of an exceptional drought such as the one you experienced in 1987 or ’88, or in 2007 and 2008,” said Young. “And, taking the well water demand that has been projected for the next 50 years, you don’t have enough well water supply in the county to meet that.”

The project, under best case scenario, would proceed along this timeline:

• June 2025, procure full delivery mitigation contractor – 3 months.
• March 2026, mitigation plan developed adequate for permit application – 9 months.
• April 2026, development of the army permit/aquatic resource alteration permit application submitted – one month.
• April 2027, Department of the army permit/ aquatic resource alteration permit/ 401 water quality certification issued – 12 months.
• October 2027, geotechnical exploration complete – 6 months.
• January 2029, design of damn complete and approved by Tennessee safe dams program – 15 months.
• June 2029, construction contract for dam construction awarded – 6 months.
• December 2031, damn construction complete – 2 and 1/2 years.

So far, the city has committed $771,494 to this project due to factors such as baseline environmental assessments, cultural resource surveys, coordination with the Department of the Army, negotiating with TDEC to minimize mitigation requirements, and an alternatives analysis report for raising Meadow Park Lake dam.

Currently, the estimated funds necessary to complete the project are estimated at around $58 million with a total estimated project budget of $60 million.

The worst-case scenario budget is estimated at $100 million.