Construction of a 30′ earthen dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir—a long-contested element of an even longer-debated Community Water Supply Plan—will likely start this fall. According to a timeline prepared by Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) Executive Director Tom Frederick, RWSA hopes to award a construction contract by September 27, and to begin construction by October 14.
The schedule, Frederick told the RWSA Board of Directors, is "reasonably aggressive, which reflects what we understand to be the priority of this Board, and it does include some targets that require actions by outside agencies and therefore is not completely within our control." The timeline, added Frederick, should set a schedule for city-county negotiations over a cost allocation agreement for the dam—tentatively scheduled in RWSA’s timeline for August 1.
And that cost may be slightly—slightly—lower than previously reported. Chris Webster, a principal with Schnabel Engineering, told the RWSA board that construction cost estimates had dropped slightly, to a range of $15.7 million to $19.2 million.