Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Board Asking Corps Of Engineers For Permit Extension For Apalachee River Intake Facility

The Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board last week agreed to ask the United States Corp of Engineers for a permit extension for construction of an intake facility on the Apalachee River at High Shoals.

The Board also awarded three contracts for construction of the recreational facility planned for the reservoir, keeping on schedule for the expected January 2018 opening of the lake for limited recreational use.

The Board had voted at its meeting in May to go forward with construction of the intake facility on the Apalachee, which could be used to expand at some point in the future the capacity of the reservoir now filling in southeast Walton County.

Project Manager Jimmy Parker told the Board last week that he believes the Corps will grant the extension to address concerns about the impact of the intake facility on the High Shoals Historic District.

Parker also told the Board at its Aug. 15 meeting that the reservoir is now about 74 percent filled and should top out between January and June of next year, depending on the amount of rainfall.

For details of this story and for video of the meeting of the Management Board, click or tap on this link to go to Oconee County Observations.