USA: Officials to Resume Lake Decatur Dredging

The Decatur City Council on Monday approved a plan that is expected to solve the city’s long-term water supply needs.

Council members voted 7-0 in favor of a wide-ranging water capital investment plan to provide critically important new water supply in the event of an emergency and fund maintenance to the city’s aging water infrastructure. The program is expected to provide the almost 8 million gallons of additional water per day need during dry and/or drought conditions and better maintain the systems that produce and transport water to local customers.

As part of the program, water rate increases of 35%, 30% and 25% with annual cost of living increases of 2.5% were approved to fund the work.

As part of the plan the city will, among other things:

– Identify and construct new water sources, including shallow collector and vertical wells,

– Continue dredging of Lake Decatur and negotiations for purchase of Lake Tokorozawa,

– Fund DeWitt County Wellfield improvements and annual distribution system leak detection and repair,

– Perform critical annual maintenance on current water system, parts of which are approaching the end of their useful life.

[mappress]

Press Release, April 3, 2013