A study completed in 2001 concluded that additional water supply was needed to serve an 18-county area that includes Effingham County. Armed with this study, HRWS officials set out to gain approval for tapping into Lake Shelbyville. “The opportunity realized by HRWS demonstrates an incredible level of cooperation between the rural water and municipal water agencies involved which provided a long-term benefit to all our water users,” said Bill Teichmiller, CEO of E-J Water Cooperative. Each HRWS member entity contributed funds to launch the organization, but no working capital was available. Because the consortium lacked the staff to manage the project, the City of Effingham agreed to be the lead agency because of their existing water treatment and distribution capabilities.
In 2002, HRWS worked with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT) Consulting Engineers to provide technical assistance in negotiating an agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)–Office of Water Resources. Several draft agreements establishing withdrawal quantity and criteria were required before the final agreement was reached that allowed HRWS 7.5 MGD of supplemental water from the Kaskaskia River. As a provision to the agreement, the HRWS had to begin withdrawing water by December 31, 2005, putting all involved on the clock to find a solution for withdrawing the water. Original plans called for the construction of a new water treatment plant near the power plant site on 20 acres of land provided by Holland Energy. When it was determined that the estimated cost, approximately $13 million,
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was prohibitive, the decision was made to store and then pipe the raw water to the Effingham treatment plant, which was currently only using an average of 3 MGD of its 6 MGD capacity. HRWS members voted to proceed with this estimated $6 million alternative.
The Effingham Water Treatment Plant and Cips Lake
Prior to constructing the required facilities, there were several regulatory approvals that needed to be obtained, including those from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and IDNR. CMT and Milano & Grunloh Engineers, Inc. submitted the necessary documents to acquire all permits. A key consideration when designing the storage and distribution facilities needed to convey water through the HRWS system was maintaining Holland’s capability to use water for cooling. A valve on the HRWS intake line was included so that, upon request, Holland Energy can direct water to the control system and side channel reservoir that were designed for the HRWS system. If HRWS requests water at the same time Holland requires it for coolant, the control valve is throttled to induce head loss and force water to the HRWS connection. A 14-mile transmission water line was designed to pipe the raw water from the reservoir to near Lake Sara, where it would connect with an existing raw water line that supplies the Effing-
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APWA Reporter
August 2008