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Topic: Walling and the new water line?

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cleartheair
F L I N T O I D

What does anyone make of this? The usual suspects trying to take control of our water, Is this right?

http://www2.goywp.com/sites/cusi/karegnondi/home.php

Partners for a new
water supply...


Click here to see the organizational chart.





Dayne Walling – Chairperson

Greg Alexander – Vice Chairperson

Delrico Loyd – Treasurer

Amy Planck – Secretary

Dale Kerbyson – Board Member

Jamie Curtis – Board Member

John Cosens – Board Member

Jeffrey Wright – CEO

John Freeman
Post Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:35 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

This has ben going on for a long time and has been in the news frequently. It is the second water line for the Flint area and an attempt to circumvent the abusive rates being imposed on us by the detroit water system. kilpatrick's deals with his buddy ferguson cost detroit an additional $179 million. detroit is forcing everyone to pay for their antiquated water infrastructure. There is no end in sight for water bill increases under Detroit.
Post Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:24 am 
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Cornbread Maxwell
F L I N T O I D

After reading as much as I could from their website, my initial response is that I am very grateful to the KWA for standing up to the bad business practices and rates offered to us by Detroit. If building a pipeline to serve the municipalities associated with KWA would cost us less in the long run than continuing to get our water from Detroit, then how would we as a community not want that to happen? A big thank you to the people who have been working hard at KWA to protect our regions interests is due IMO.
Post Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:37 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Detroit raised our water rate, but Flint increased water, water service charge, sewer and sewer service charge/ The formula was printed in the Flint Journal. Are the service charges going into the general fund or what?

Detroit has raised our rate nearly every year to help pay for their infrastructure woes. In our original contract with Detroit the City of Flint was to have a secondary water line in case the first one failed. They never gave Flint a secondary water source and that is why the state made Flint upgrade the water treatment plant. The Flint River system was used for about 2 days when the Detroit system failed. Genesee County installed more water storage after past failures brought their water levels dangerously close to empty.

The Anderson Report was done by the Stanley Administration. It said Flint could save money by either using the water from the Flint River for city residents or by giving Flint River water to the county. By contract the Citty of Fllint is not allowed to comingle the Detroit water with Flint River water.

The drawbacks are the Flint River water flow cannot supply both the city and the county. Also the flow must be adequate for the city waste water treatment plant in Flint Township to work adequately. The larger lake water from the Great lakes is cleaner than the slower moving Flint River. Two dams on the Flint River are near collapse, the Utah and the Hamilton. There is said to be toxins at the bottom of the Hamilton Dam. Flint owns the reservoir at Holloway so there should be an adequate supply if the reservoir is used so the flow is sufficient during times of drought and low water levels.

Council is still debating these issues. Neeley wants Flint River and Kincaid is obviously opposed. Look for Detroit rates to continue to escalate. As I said before, water is the gold of the future.

Many years ago I attended Indian Law day at U of m Ann Arbor and the topic discussed was the legal wars over water throughout the west.
Post Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:20 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Flint officials to be presented with future drinking water options, including Flint River, new pipeline
Published: Tuesday, September 06, 2011, 2:42 PM Updated: Tuesday, September 06, 2011, 2:42 PM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal The Flint Journal


View full sizeRyan Garza | Flint Journal file photoThe Flint River flows through the Hamilton Dam in this file photo.
FLINT, Michigan — It’s a 35 percent louder wake-up call for the city.

With a recently announced 35 percent water and sewer bill increase set to take effect this month, Flint officials and residents want to know the future outlook for the city’s water supply.

That’s especially so, since some customers soon will be paying more for their water and sewer services than for their monthly property taxes.

Flint resident Chris Del Morone said he pays less than $1,100 a year for his property taxes — less each month on average than the new rate being discussed for water customers.

The average Flint water and sewer user would see his or her bill go to $111.36 a month from $82.49 a month, city officials said. The increase doesn’t affect Genesee County water customers.

“It’s unheard of,” Del Morone said of the 35 percent rate hike. “We don’t live in the desert. We’re not on the moon.

“We live in an area that has more fresh water than anywhere in the world.”

But exactly where that water will be coming from in future years remains to be seen. Genesee County Drain Commissioner Jeffrey Wright said he plans to make a presentation to the Flint City Council on Wednesday so it can reach a decision.

Wright is leading the charge to build a water pipeline from Lake Huron, which would supply water to Genesee County and several other counties that have formed a consortium, the Karegnondi Water Authority.

Nothing is set in stone, and city officials are saying they want to evaluate all the options before making a commitment.

The new water pipeline, a continued contract with Detroit and drinking treated Flint River water are all options.

“At some point, Flint will have to make a decision,” Wright said. “There’s been serious consideration going on for two years now. About 95 percent of the questions have been answered.”

For the past several decades, the city has been locked into a contract with Detroit for its water, which is pumped to the city through a pipeline.

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said the recent city rate increase is because Detroit over the years has raised its rates, but the increases haven’t always been passed on to Flint residents.

In 2007 and 2008, for example, Detroit raised rates that cost the city about $600,000 and $1.4 million each year, respectively, according to Flint Journal files. But Flint residents didn’t see a rate hike.

Now, city officials have to decide where to go from here.

Flint City Councilman Sheldon Neeley said he wants to seriously consider Flint River water as an option. The city spent millions under former Mayor Don Williamson’s administration to upgrade the water plant so it could make river water suitable for drinking.

“We have resources available to us,” he said. “We do have choices.”

But City Councilman Scott Kincaid said that while he wants to look at all the options, lake water is probably the city’s best bet.

“We have to have a fresh source of water,” he said, “not river water, not well water.”

He said the water issue is a “huge” one for the city now.

“We’ve got to work collectively,” he said, “because there’s no simple solution.”

The Flint City Council meets at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Flint City Hall, 1101 S. Saginaw St.







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Post Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:01 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

See the Channel 7 ABC Detroit stories on how all water users are sharing the cost of Detroit's water leaks nearly 31% of all fresh water is lost in theit sytem. Why our Water bills are so high
Post Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:02 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Report: Buying in to new water pipeline from Lake Huron cheaper for Flint drinking water than treating river water
Published: Wednesday, September 07, 2011, 9:00 PM Updated: Wednesday, September 07, 2011, 10:37 PM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal The Flint Journal



FLINT, Michigan -- The most cost-effective drinking water option for the city of Flint would be to finance and build a new $300-million water pipeline with Genesee County and other areas, according to a new report done for the city.

Pumping the water from Lake Huron would be cheaper over time than buying water from Detroit, which the city has done for decades, or treating Flint River water, according to the analysis done by Rowe Engineering and presented to the Flint City Council tonight.

The most expensive option by far is continuing to buy from Detroit, the report said, followed by using Flint River water. The river option isn't as cost-effective because the city's water treatment plant would need about $50 million in upgrades to treat the water full time, rather than as a back-up option as it is now.

The city would also need to spend another $10 million in other infrastructure upgrades to dams and other river features to make sure the river can supply enough water to residents and still meet its environmental requirements from the state.

Treating lake water, on the other hand, isn't as complicated because it's cleaner, and the treatment plant would need about $10 million in upgrades, officials said.

"Our whole goal all along is to get the cheapest, highest quality water to all the customers -- Flint, Genesee County and others," Genesee County Drain Commissioner Jeffrey Wright said.

Wright, who has led the charge to build the pipeline, was on hand to answer questions about the project that a consortium of five communities is planning to finance and build.

The consortium is made up of Genesee County, Flint, Lapeer County, the city of Lapeer and Sanilac County, and is known collectively as the Karegnondi Water Authority.

Wright stressed that time is of the essence as the city decides how and where it will get its drinking water in the future.

"If we build this, and I believe it's the most cost-effective thing for our citizens... We really would need to make a decision in the next four to five weeks," Wright said, adding that engineering work needs to get done in time to start the project in spring 2012.

Council members had said they wanted a cost comparison of the three drinking water options -- a contract with Detroit, building the pipeline and treating Flint River water -- so they can determine what would be cheapest for Flint residents, who will see a 35 percent increase on their water and sewer bills this month.

The increase is largely due to several years of water rate increases from Detroit, which weren't always passed on to Flint residents.

City Council President Jackie Poplar said the new report has swayed her closer to making a decision in favor of building the pipeline as the issue is discussed further over the next several weeks.

"I've always thought Flint should have control of its water," Poplar said. "I'm happy to be a part of a project that will loosen us from Detroit and provide good clean water to the citizens."

Wright said KWA recently met with representatives from the Detroit Water and Sewer Board to discuss the pipeline and received some good news.

Detroit officials said they would consider selling a portion of its pipeline to KWA -- which could knock off about $40 million from the $300-million pipeline construction costs, Wright said.

"It would reduce the time frame to build the system," he said. "The construction costs would be much lower."



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Post Wed Sep 07, 2011 11:17 pm 
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