Delaware County farmers group opposes Mounds Lake plan

Representatives of Farm Bureau made the group’s opposition known to the Delaware County commissioners in a Monday meeting.

Kaye Whitehead and Joe Russell, farmers and officers of Delaware County Farm Bureau, raised several objections to the project, which would dam White River in Anderson and create a miles-long, 2,100-acre lake at a projected $400-million-plus cost.

The commissioners did not act on Farm Bureau’s comments and there was some uncertainty on Monday about the next step in the process. The Corporation for Economic Development in Anderson is the driving force behind the reservoir proposal and, after conducting two rounds of exploratory studies, is now set to ask officials in Delaware and Madison counties to form a commission that could decide to move the project forward.

Commissioner James King said after Monday’s meeting that he had not received any indications of when CED’s Rob Sparks would ask for a vote on the commission.

Sparks told The Star Press on Monday that he was “working on the timeline currently.”