For the first time in its history, Forsyth County will enjoy water independence. But it’s not going to happen overnight because there’s a lot of work to be done.
A decades-long, multi-state federal lawsuit, the Tri-State Water Wars, forced Forsyth County to rely upon a single water intake facility at Lake Lanier owned by the City of Cumming to supply water to the entire County.
But a 2021 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court has given the county the ability to construct its own water intake facility at the lake and take control of its water future.
“The new Forsyth County Water Intake will allow the county to meet the water needs of residents, farmers, businesses and others in our community,” posting on the county’s website says. “It is a pivotal milestone for our county, decades in the making. Most importantly, it will ensure Forsyth County has a safe, reliable, high quality water supply for future generations to prosper.”
The timetable for the $193 million project calls for it to be finished by 2030.
The Forsyth County Water intake was featured recently in The Georgia Operator, a publication of the Georgia Association of Water Professionals. Click here to read the article which contains a projected build-out timetable among other things:
Decades in the Making: The New Forsyth County Water Intake on Lake Lanier