Clay County receives more than $400K to find new water source

MANCHESTER, Ky. (FOX 56) — Reliable, clean water is vital for any community. But in some eastern Kentucky communities, the main water source won’t last forever.

In Clay County, officials are hoping that the recently received grant funding will solidify the future of the community’s water.

The main raw water source, water that is found in nature and hasn’t undergone any treatment process, for Clay County is the Bert T. Combs Water Reservoir, which is fed by Goose Creek.

Clay County Judge Executive Tommy Harmon said right now the reservoir holds a maximum of a 22-week supply of water for the county.

Roughly 3.5 million gallons flow from the creek into the reservoir every day, but the water companies pull an average of 2.7 million gallons a day for treatment.

Because of this, Harmon said the county is trying to find other water sources, recently receiving more than $400,000 in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission and from Kentucky.

“Funding is a major issue with anything,” Harmon said. “The south fork of the Kentucky River is still in Clay County, so we may try to attach it someway. But that is why we’re used to grant where you’re doing an economic study with the grant and they’re doing a hydrological study, a feasibility study, and an engineering study.”

This project to find a new water source in Clay County is part of a much larger project aimed at the future of the county.

Harmon said the county is a little different today than it was when he was a kid growing up there.

Gone are the coal mines and tobacco fields, and because of that, he and the rest of the county are working to change the narrative.

Harmon said the hope is to grow Clay County to be a hub where people want to visit and live.

There have been several developments in downtown Manchester as well as several events held, but right now, the county is limited in what it can do.

Harmon wants to see his home thrive for decades to come.

“Everybody is just like me; we’ve been promised so much from our leaders in Washington,” Harmon detailed. “They are just happy to just make it in the right now. They just want to make it get by with things that they’re doing.”

Harmon said the county has enough water to sustain the people of Clay County, but if the county continues to grow, it won’t be able to keep up.

In addition, with dry conditions like Kentucky has experienced the last few weeks, it has put a major strain on the reservoir and creek.

To learn more about the grant, you can do so here.