Edmonson Water District Answers Questions

 

 

Lynn Bledsoe

Gimlet Editor

 

Edmonson County Water District board held its regular meeting on March 25, 2025. All board members were present along with Hart County Judge/Executive Joe Choate.

Edmonson News asked about concerns that residents have had about boil water advisories. ECWD Manger Kevin Shaw answered that some of the advisories have been from line breaks, and some have been from the district up grading the lines. In particular the Segal Road area has been under upgrades to the infrastructure. Shaw said those lines had problems for a long time and they had decided it was time to replace the old lines with new. He apologizes for the disruption to residents, but it is necessary in order to provide better service for the future.

ECWD already has a tie-in to Grayson County Water for the Northern part of the county along with the areas of Hart and Butler Counties that ECWD serves. The ECWD has spent over $1 million on that connection. The $1 million from Kentucky Legislators that was awarded in March of 2024 was just released to the district in 2025. The work for the completion of the Grayson County Water connection has already been completed. The district is able to use that $1 million for other upgrades.

The board discussed making a connecting with Warren County Water in order to supply the Southern half of Edmonson County in the event of a low water emergency. The Edmonson Board sees this as a move that could benefit both counties.  ECWD Manager Kevin Shaw said there are two ways this could be paid for; the Board made no decision on which way they want to pay for the $4 million connection at this time. They Board needs time to look at the different ways to finance as each option has different timelines of funding and how quickly the project can be completed. Shaw stated that these tie-in connectors are just in the event of an emergency.

As for the grant monies from the Federal government, for the new intake, Shaw stated that they have not received the amounts asked for yet. They have a $3.5 million commitment from the Legislators of State of Kentucky. There is no timeline as yet for the new intake to be started or completed, but the connections to other counties will keep water in the county while those things are addressed and worked out.  The estimate for the new intake was around $14 million.

Manager Kevin Shaw did want to make customers aware that rates will go up. Readings after April 10, 2025, will cover the new rates. The ECWD has begun some construction in various places such as storage tanks and upgrading pump stations. He said that in the past 12 months there has been over $2 million worth of work done. $1 million of which has not been grant money but money directly from the ECWD. They have resolved the problem of running out of water, with the plant upgrades being able to now produce enough water. There are still a lot of water pipes needing upgrades and he hopes everyone will be patient with the Water Company as things continue to improve, even with boil water advisories being needed.