New Effort to Dam the Duck

      The Corps of Engineers has again been petitioned to build a reservoir for public water supply on the Duck River in Cullman County.  A group asked for a permit in 1999, but Wild South and others objected to the petition and it was rejected in court.  Now the City of Cullman has apparently taken over the project and submitted a supplement to the original Environmental Assessment to meet the court requirements.  We again object to the project and have asked the Corps for a public meeting.

     Our objections are that it will dam a section of one of the last free-flowing rivers in Alabama, a beautiful place for wildlife and canoing.  It will be a huge financial burden on the water subscribers in Culman County, at a 1999 estimated cost of $52,000,000.  It appears that what was originally advertised as a supplemental/alternative source of water has become a source to supply 32 MGD (million gallons per day), while they currently use 13-17 MGD, and their source, Lake Catoma can produce 25 MGD.  Where is the logic here?  Who gains from such a project?

    We still believe that an Environmental Impact Statement should have been prepared because of its large environmental effects.  We have asked the Corps to hold a public meeting, but so far they have refused, and only extended the public comment period to September 1, 2005.  One of the problems is that there are many chicken farms in the watershed that pollute the water, but the data is not very complete, it is old, and has been "cherry picked" to find data that does not indicate too much pollution.

     To learn more about the dam issue, visit   Alabama Rivers Alliance.