Berry College To Draw Down Water In Quarry
Berry College will initiate a “drawdown test” on water in its quarry reservoir beginning Monday, Sept. 24, and lasting an estimated nine to 11 days.
“The current drought conditions have made this an opportune time to perform this test in the quarry to determine how future use of the water will affect the water table in the area and if the water quality is acceptable,” said Mark Hopkins, director of the physical plant at Berry.
According to Hopkins, the college has developed a master plan for the campus that calls for the addition of several hundred new students in future years. New facilities will be required to accommodate such growth including residence halls and other structures. Due to previous issues with subsidence under campus structures, the college wants to ensure that any use of water from the quarry will not create similar problems.
Berry wants to assess the feasibility of using the quarry to augment its current and future water supplies in view of the campus growth that is expected during the next decade. The college currently draws its water supply from its own sources on Lavender Mountain and does not draw water from the city of Rome or Floyd County.
Officials expect water from the quarry to flow through Little Dry Creek in Summerville Park, through Tolbert Park and into the Oostanaula River near the new Rome Post Office. Residents of those areas may notice a slight increase in water flow in the creek during the next few days.
The rock quarry on the Berry property was used commercially from 1950 until its closure in 2000. It relies on a large underground aquifer that runs throughout the region connecting the Oostanaula River with myriad springs and streams.
