One of the most interesting facts about Carroll County’s planned 977-acre recreational lake project is that it’s actually going to get built.

The Carroll County Watershed Authority was formed in 1984 specifically to develop a recreational lake for the area. Almost 20 years later—in 2002—the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the necessary permit.

Along the way, Carroll County residents supported the project by voting to increase the wheel tax by $10 in 2000 to help pay 30% of the likely $10 million price tag for the lake.

Once built, the lake will likely be a boon for the county’s quality of life, bringing with it tourism dollars in the short-term and industrial and real estate development dollars in the long-term, says Carroll County Chamber President Brad Hurley.

The estimated economic impact (such as new businesses like boat dealers and restaurants) will be $23 million in the first ten years, Hurley says. His projections also estimate an annual increase of $1.5 million in property taxes for the county.

“The good thing about the lake is—unlike a company which could come and go—it’s difficult to move a 1,000-acre lake,” Hurley says. “It’s here for the future.”

While the economic impact is the obvious big news for the county, the creation of the lake also is becoming a model environmental project, says Kevin Young, senior vice president for Jackson-based J.R. Wauford and Company Consulting Engineers.

As part of the lake build, a wetlands mitigation project—the largest of its kind ever in the Southeast—will create 300 new acres of wetland habitat to replace the 100 acres the lake is set to displace, Young says. And winding through these wetlands will be another mitigation project—the first of its kind for Tennessee. More than 2.5 miles of channelized stream will be returned to its original meandering state.

Like many rural Tennessee counties, Carroll has long struggled with low educational attainment rates and high unemployment. Officials hope the lake can be a key to turning those figures around.

“We knew we had to diversify our economy,” Hurley says, citing the massive job losses in the 1990s when the county’s garment industry moved to foreign shores. “Our goal was to create a recreational lake to enhance Carroll County’s economic engine.”

Brad Hurley
Carroll County Chamber President

Photo by Brad Jones