U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issues Statement Regarding Last Week's Water Situation Meeting With Local Officials

Green River at the Brownsville Bridge.

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
Yesterday, officials from the Edmonson Water District attended the Edmonson County Fiscal Court meeting and gave a report on a meeting that was hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) last week, which was attended by Water District personnel, Rep. Michael Meredith, representatives from Senator Rand Paul's Office, Senator Mitch McConnell's Office, and Congressman Brett Guthrie's Office, as well as the Nature Conservancy and Edmonson County Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey. No media was invited to the meeting. On May 25th, the Water District organized a similar meeting with the aforementioned groups, plus media; however, the Corps did not show and did not give the Water District nor the Edmonson Voice a reason for their last-minute email stating they could not attend. Sanders said the Corps organized last week's meeting, held at the Corps office.

Today, the USACE responded to our request for their comments on the meeting that was held last week. Abby Korfhage, Public Affairs Specialist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, sent the following statement:

Over the last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and our partners have performed additional surveys, data analysis, and additional modeling to further analyze the effects of the Green River Dam No. 5 removal on water levels in the river under varying conditions. The meeting held June 6 at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nolin River Lake Office was a working-level meeting where USACE and our partner agencies could openly discuss challenges and potential courses of action. We discussed the need to develop a list of feasible solutions and will move forward with a smaller multi-agency team comprised of federal, state and local partners to find a collaborative permanent solution to help address Edmonson County Water District’s (ECWD) concerns. At this time, USACE will remain paused on the Green River Dam No. 5 removal efforts until further notice.
 
Regarding river depth needed for ECWD’s sustained operations, river levels have not fallen below the necessary depth and have remained above the minimal level required for operation of the water intake. Water levels did not drop below the necessary depth when the region experienced low-to-moderate drought conditions last summer. Furthermore, ECWD was provided an auxiliary pump with the capacity to meet the demand of the district if water levels decline to a level below the necessary depth for its intake. USACE is closely monitoring water levels to ensure they do not drop below a critical elevation that would disrupt ECWD from drawing water through its existing intake. We are aware of the community’s concerns with increased sedimentation at the intake location. This sedimentation is likely related to the failure of the upstream Green River Dam No. 6, whose subsequent removal was required to ensure public safety. We will continue to work collaboratively, as USACE and our partners are committed to keeping our stakeholders and the public informed as we collectively move forward.