PORTLAND, Tenn. (WKRN) — After decades of challenges and community complaints, the city of Portland believes they finally have a solution to their water problem.

The water-strapped city has broken ground on a 23-mile water pipeline that will stretch from Gallatin to Portland serving many other rural communities within Sumner County along the way. Currently, it's being installed in four different areas of the county — all along Highway 52.

“This line that’s running has the capability to send another 3,000,000 gallons a day to the city of Portland — which, in effect, would double our [raw water] capacity,” Portland Mayor Mike Callis said.  

The funding for the pipeline took several years to sort out and came via a collaborative grant. 

“When this federal money came to be, the county [American Rescue Plan] money and now the state money altogether, we’re able to do this $40 million project 100% funded," Callis said. "And those don’t happen very often."

When it’s completed, the water will come from Gallatin to the rural communities that need it the most.

“This project’s not just for Portland; it’s for the Gallatin, Bethpage folks, it’s for Westmoreland,” Callis explained. “And also, I’ll tell you another thing: is fire protection,” Callis said. “So this line will have fire hydrants all along the route. If we can put more fire hydrants out in the rural parts of the county, we offer better fire protection along the way as well.” 

Callis said they’ve been looking for a secondary source of water for years, but money was always a hindrance.  The mayor himself has been working on putting this pipeline into the ground for years.

He said he’s heard all the resident’s frustrations, and as a Portland-lifer himself, he knows the impact this pipeline will have long-term. 

“It’s an emotional thing for me,” Callis told News 2. “Our community is the only community in Sumner County whose utility doesn’t get its raw water from the Cumberland/Old Hickory system. Having something that can help us during drought [years] is going to be amazing for us.”

The grant requires that the pipeline be finished by September 2026.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/sumner-co-pipeline-installation-begins/