FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — The City of Fayetteville held a public meeting Thursday to present information on a new transmission water line being planned to help keep up with continued growth and future water demands.
The 48-inch West Transmission Water Line will span 11 miles to the west of I-49 in Fayetteville. The line will begin at a new Beaver Water District facility being built near Elm Springs and tie into an existing Fayetteville water main.
According to a press release, the connection will help optimize water flow through the distribution system to Fayetteville customers, thereby reducing water age and improving water quality.
Engineering design work began in 2022 and is anticipated to be completed mid-2024. The new waterline is anticipated to be connected to Beaver Water District's Western Corridor Pump Station in 2026.
"The time has come that essentially we have maxed out the capacity of our current two large transmission lines that run on the east side of town, and we need an additional amount of water to come to the city," Fayetteville utilities engineer Corey Granderson said.
Granderson manages capital improvement projects for the city and said they'd begun planning in 2012. Through their water master plan in 2017, engineers estimated a need for the connection by 2033. Granderson said that the deadline moved up to 2028 with such fast growth in the area.
"I'm sure you hear people all the time talking about how surprised we are by the growth in Northwest Arkansas. And so, as that growth has surprised us, the need for water sooner has surprised us as well," Granderson said.
The city is using a construction manager at-risk delivery method to expedite the construction. Having designs and construction managers working together will help the construction start towards the end of 2024 and be complete by 2026. It would provide some breathing room to look at their other transmission lines built in the 70's and 90's.
"We need to take those offline and be able to do some detailed scanning condition assessments of those lines to make sure that if they need any critical repairs, we have time to do them. Before we find ourselves in the situation where all three lines have to be on all the time can't be turned off, because we've got too much demand in our system," Granderson said.
Engineers estimate the project could cost 80 to 85 million dollars. They're completing requirements to receive funding from an Arkansas Natural Resources Division Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). The loan program offers municipalities and utilities access to low-interest rate loans, saving overall loan costs compared to market rates. Engineers say the total amount will be finalized later this year after loan certification and closing are complete.
For more information about the project, you can visit Fayetteville's west transmission water line page.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.