$440M Dog River Reservoir expansion targets drought resilience, not growth

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. - A massive reservoir expansion is underway in south Douglas County, part of a $440 million project aimed at ensuring the region has enough water for decades to come.

What we know:

Crews are clearing land off Highway 166 near the Dog River Reservoir, which supplies water for Douglas County and serves as an emergency backup for Carroll County. When complete, the project will triple the reservoir’s size and raise the water level by about 35 feet — submerging parts of the current site under 20 feet of water.

Officials say the project isn’t about population growth. It’s about the weather.

What they're saying:

"We recently expanded this reservoir in the mid-2000s and that was to accommodate the future growth in Douglas County," said Gil Shearouse, executive director of the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority. "Now, it’s because the sky has been a whole lot drier over the last 20 years."

According to the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, the region experienced just three droughts between 1943 and 2000. Since then, there have been five, including the severe "100-year drought" of 2007-08.

For local business owners like Larry Taylor of Accent Nursery and Landscaping, those dry years hit hard.

"It was pretty rough on us and everybody else," Taylor said. "Business went to basically about zero at that time."

He remembers when water restrictions kept customers from buying plants, and he’s watching this new project with cautious optimism. "We’re actually in a small drought, I would think, right now," he said.

Water officials say the expansion should help prevent those struggles in the future by increasing the reservoir’s capacity to store 6.5 billion gallons of water. They also insist the cost won’t fall heavily on residents.

What's next:

The Water Authority says there are no major bill increases planned to cover the expansion, which is expected to be finished by 2029.