It’s like St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon surmised. The area gets a good dose of rain, and worries about drought seem to evaporate like the raindrops on a sunny day.But officials in Talladega and St. Clair counties who have joined forces for a regional water effort are making sure those concerns stay at the forefront of their planning for the future. On Thursday, they held a Drought Conference at Jefferson State Community College’s Pell City campus with water system officials from both counties as well as state and environmental representatives.
It was the coming together of various entities for the good of a common interest – water resources – and it was meant to keep the focus on growing water needs in this part of the state. St. Clair County and Lincoln are experiencing phenomenal growth and by joining forces, they are looking out for the best interests of their citizens now and in the future.
Within months, construction should begin on a regional water treatment plant that will supply water daily to a number of municipalities in St. Clair and Lincoln in Talladega County. It was a visionary process begun years ago to ensure that as the area grew, so did its water supply.
And the way to do that, they reasoned, was to form a regional authority and build it together. That dream is coming to fruition, but it is critical that officials and the public keep the issue as a priority.
“There was a lot of interest when there was a drought, but we get a few rains, and it’s not of interest anymore,” Batemon warned. “We have to get it out there and make sure this is an issue. Water is important, and we aren’t saying it loud enough.”
The public and the officials who represent them need to hear that. But more important, they need to take heed.
