Franklin County weighs $194,500 next step in search for new groundwater

Franklin County commissioners on Feb. 24 discussed a proposed $194,500 contract for the next stage of the county’s search for new groundwater: onsite work intended to identify exact locations where wells could potentially be drilled. The discussion followed completion of a year-long hydrogeological survey by consultant Emery and Garrett, but the work-session minutes do not show the board approving the proposed agreement.

The decision would put another substantial public expenditure behind a possible new water source and shift the project from a countywide, map-level assessment toward specific parcels and drilling decisions. The completed first phase cost $129,500; the proposed follow-up would test whether areas thought to hold groundwater can be narrowed into viable drilling locations.

The first phase was designed to locate broader groundwater zones rather than select a well site. At the Feb. 24 session, Terry Harris told commissioners that Emery and Garrett had completed that survey and identified areas believed to contain groundwater, setting up the proposed onsite phase as the work needed to turn those broad findings into possible drilling targets.

County staff presented the proposed next phase as a way to investigate the most promising locations, estimated at roughly 35 to 40 sites. Landowners would also become central to the process: Harris said consultants would need permission before entering private property. Commissioners, meanwhile, were told they would need to decide whether to authorize a contract for the work.

The initial hydrogeological survey is complete, and its broad identification of potential groundwater zones is documented. The $194,500 onsite agreement remains a proposal in the Feb. 24 record, not a completed county action. That record does not establish that field work has begun, that any private property has been selected or accessed, that a drilling location has been chosen, or that a well has been drilled.

The next public sign of progress would be a commission agenda item, meeting record or other official action addressing the proposed contract. Even if commissioners approve the work, the record leaves major questions unresolved: which areas will be examined, how the county will seek landowner permission, and whether the promising zones will support a final decision to drill.