On Nov. 2, 2023, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the State Water Infrastructure Grants (SWIG) Program announced that the Harriman Utility Board and the Crab Orchard Utility District were approved for a competitive grant for regionalization. The City of Harriman, on behalf of Harriman Utility Board, will receive 100% of the funding requested, totaling $10,705,550.
With this funding, HUB will embark on a major water distribution system upgrade project to allow it to interconnect with and sell drinking water to Crab Orchard Utility District (COUD) in Cumberland County, where water shortages have prompted the utilities in that area to seek new and permanent, reliable water supply sources that improve resiliency to long-term drought and other emergency conditions. HUB will be one of those new sources. However, this project is twofold. It not only serves to promote reliability and resiliency in the Cumberland County region; but it also provides better resiliency and improved water quality to HUB’s existing customers in Morgan County. Both Morgan and Cumberland counties will benefit from this project, and both are designated as disadvantaged communities.
“This grant announcement is extraordinary news for HUB. We’ve been talking about this project with Crab Orchard Utility District for nearly 20 years. It is so exciting that our hard work has paid off. Back in the summer, HUB spent many hours writing this grant, making numerous trips to Cumberland County to ensure our project was viable for this highly competitive grant program. Now that we’ve received the news, the real work begins,” said Candace Vannasdale, HUB’s general manager.
HUB will need to design and install nearly 13 miles of waterline and three pump stations to convey adequate flow up the mountain. In the future, HUB wishes to interconnect with other utilities in the area as both a wholesale buyer and a wholesale seller.
Regionalization is a hot topic in the water and sewer industry right now. Back in May, TDEC announced a competitive grant program with $100 million allocated specifically for regionalization which refers to projects that connect infrastructure to improve services and optimize capacity.
HUB has an abundance of drinking water capacity from a secure source — the Emory River. COUD is challenged being on the plateau where they are much more limited on the amount of source water available. Much of the water shed from the mountain ends up in the Emory River. HUB will be able to treat and return some of that water to the customers who need it in the COUD service area.
This project will also help support the new Flatrock Motorsports Park and Motorclub in Cumberland County, just off the Westel exit on I-40.
In its letter of support for the project, COUD’s General Manager Everett Bolin had the following to say, “We are pleased to be partnering with HUB to expand the regional footprint in this area of the State, specifically the Cumberland Plateau. The proposed project is to extend the existing HUB water system so that COUD can have an interconnection for wholesale water purchase to sustain existing and future demand for our residential, commercial, industrial, and wholesale customers. We are expecting usage to increase in the Eastern portion of Cumberland County in the near future, and this connection would be the most feasible way to serve this area.”
