Planning for water resources, including clean drinking water, sanitary sewer infrastructure, and surface water quality, is important to ensure current and future needs are met efficiently and effectively. The Commonwealth of Kentucky initiated a coordinated process of water management planning following the drought of 1988. The current process is designated under Senate Bill 409 passed in 2000. This bill established regional water management councils to guide the planning process throughout the Commonwealth. Fifteen regional planning areas were created corresponding to Area Development District boundaries for the purpose of regional planning. The Area Development Districts coordinate water management planning activities within their respective counties with the assistance of the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority, local utilities and other state and local agencies.
Water Management Planning Council
The Water Management Planning Council is comprised of local elected officials from each County and many cities as well as representatives from several public water and sewer systems. The Council provides a mechanism for inter-governmental cooperation and plans and evaluates infrastructure development projects on a regional level.
Water Resource Information System
The Water Management Planning process is supported by the Water Resource Information System (WRIS), a collection of digital maps and information that is continually updated to provide current information about water and wastewater infrastructure capacity and development. The WRIS is maintained by the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority
Project Planning
The WRIS contains information about planned water and wastewater projects. These projects have been identified as the most important projects in the region and it is these projects that will be ranked in a list to be submitted for funding consideration from various state and federal sources.
Project Ranking
All projects are prioritized for the purpose of qualifying projects for funding eligibility. Projects will be ranked based upon a mathematical formula that scores projects based upon criteria such as households served, economic development, regional impact. The prioritization methodology and final rankings are available through the links below.
Prioritization Methodology
2007 Project Rankings
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Meghan Estabrook
Northern Kentucky Area Development District
22 Spiral Drive
Florence, KY. 41042
Phone: (859) 283-1885
Fax: (859) 283-8178