A Thoughtful Pause

Written By: Dana Dye | Photo Taken By: John Guider

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By now, I think we all understand that the course of human events does not

run in a straight line. It loops around in fits and starts and is occasionally

subject to thoughtful pauses. The Columbia Power & Water (CP&W) plan for a

new extraction plant on the Hickman County line to pull 32 million gallons of

water a day (mgd) out of the Duck River was put on a thoughtful pause last

week.

The CP&W 32-mgd extraction project on the Hickman County line had

felt like a foregone conclusion, like the “fix was in” as they say in the old

gangster movies. TDEC’s own April Grippo testified that TDEC is invested in

this CP&W extraction project and supports it fully. The Columbia City Council

and Public Utility Boards have both signed off on the project’s massive cost

(between $500 million or $610 million, depending on who you talk to and

when). The CP&W Williamsport extraction plan seemed to be barreling down

the track like an unstoppable freight train. Until…

The Tennessee Local Development Authority, the arm of the

Comptroller’s office that reviews applications for public funds, tapped the

brakes. “Wait a minute. Don’t we need some more information? This is a lot of

money. Have other solutions really been considered?” The Authority deferred

action on CP&W’s borrowing request for thirty days in order to gather more

information.

The City of Columbia’s application for funding requested $145 million in

State money and indicated that it planned to get $315 million from a federal

WIFIA loan. (The Water Infrastructure & Innovation Act was enacted in 2018.)

The rest of the money would come from issuing bonds and increasing rates for

water use.

A look at the WIFIA process will tell you right off the bat that such

funding is not exactly a safe bet. The EPA releases an annual notice about how

much money is available for WIFIA loans (usually about $6.5 billion). A local

government or public utility may then send the EPA a Letter of Interest

outlining a proposed project. The agency may then invite the interested public

agency to apply.

That’s right: Applications are submitted by INVITATION

ONLY. By statute, the WIFIA loans can only cover 49% of the cost of a project

and its lien must be superior to all other loan funding. WIFIA loans have been

steadily declining since 2018 with WIFIA closing only thirteen loans and

disbursing approximately $900 million in 2025. In other words, the linchpin

of CP&W funding for this massive project is far from a sure thing, revealing

the CP&W funding plan to be the house of cards its shifting price tag suggested

it was all along.

Jason Gilliam, a member of the Maury County Board of Public Utilities,

which currently purchases water from CP&W, sent a letter to the TLDA

opposing approval of the CP&W funding application and stating “[t]his CPWS

project reveals a pattern of incomplete planning, shifting numbers, unacquired

easements, potential legal challenges, negative environmental impacts, and a

failure to adequately consider far cheaper and more collaborative regional

alternatives.” He pointed out that CP&W is the only utility on the Duck River

with multiple withdrawal permits, giving CP&W monopolistic control of water

treatment and distribution in the Duck River Valley. He informed the TLDA

that the Williamsport extraction project was “not fully ready, its costs are

uncertain and escalating, its benefits are limited and short-term, and it sidelines

demonstrably cheaper regional alternatives that would better serve Maury and

surrounding counties.” Mr. Gilliam has a point, and he is not a lone voice crying

in the wilderness. Signing off on the Gilliam letter were Senator Joey Hensley,

Reps. Kip Capley, Scott Cepicky, Todd Warner, Clay Doggett, and Chris Todd,

along with nine Maury County Commissioners and Columbia City Councilman

Charlie Huffman.

The CP&W proposed level of extraction threatens the health of the

Lower Duck River, especially in times of drought. Yet CP&W asserts that, for

between $500,000,000 and $600,000,000 (payable over the next 30 years),

the new Williamsport extraction facility will satisfy the water needs of

Columbia for the next 20 years. That does not sound like much of a deal—and

no deal at all if you consider that the investment does not address the water

needs of the other five counties in the Duck River Valley.

Maury County Mayor, Sheila Butt, requested that the TLDA not make a

decision on public funding for the CP&W Williamsport extraction project until

the Governor’s Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership completes its

preliminary feasibility studies in September. It is a reasonable request. Mayor

Butt also expressed the need for regional cooperation in solving the problem

of the area’s growing water needs. She warned against the “water wars”

approach of utilities competing for water, rather than collaborating on a

regional solution. (As we know, the “water wars” approach has not worked

very well for the Colorado River and will likely prove just as devastating for

the Duck.)

Why spend over half a billion dollars for an extraction facility that could

literally destroy the Lower Duck River and that only serves a portion of one

county for a couple of decades, when we could apply that money to a

Tennessee River pipeline that would serve the entire Duck River Valley,

protect the most bio-diverse river in North America, and be a permanent

solution to our long-term water needs?

If you have thoughts you would like the Tennessee Local Development

Authority to consider before handing out your money to CP&W, you may send

a letter to TLDA, 425 Rep. John Lewis Way North, Nashville, TN 37243 or

shoot an email to SGF@cot.tn.gov regarding City of Columbia SRF Loan

Application #2024-10571.

It’s your money. It’s your river. It’s your voice.

Dana Dye is a resident of Hickman County and a Duck River Conservancy Board member.