State officials and representatives from Central Arkansas Water met at the Arkansas 4-H Center Wednesday morning to kick off construction efforts extending water infrastructure west of Little Rock.
Doug Shackelford, Public Affairs Officer for Central Arkansas Water, says they’ve been working on the project for over two decades, and faced longer delays due to supply chain issues.
"Lead times on pipe became very long," said Shackelford, "What used to take us six weeks to get was more like a year. And so, we put the order in for the pipe, I think, at the end of 2022, and it started coming in late last year.”
Construction on the project's first phase is set to begin within the next week, and will take about 18 months to complete. After that, bidding on the next phase will begin.
“We'll start at Walnut Grove Road, we will make our way west toward the four-way stop at Ferndale. Once that's completed, we'll turn south and head out here to Ferncliff camp and to the 4-H Center," Shackleford said. "Phase Two, which will come a few years from now, we'll start moving north to the four-way stop back toward Highway 10, along Ferndale Cutoff and all the sideroads that go along with that."
While Central Arkansas Water took over the project more than 20 years ago, Elaine Jones, president of the West Pulaski Public Water Authority, says the effort has been going on much longer.
"My dad began conversations with various families in the community about the possibility of having city water. That conversation was 50 years ago,” she said.
State Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock, said he understands why some residents may stick with their existing well water. But, he says bringing the infrastructure to the area will have many benefits, including potentially lower insurance costs for homeowners.
"That doesn't mean there are factors that would cause your insurance rate to go up, but it should be a net real decrease in your homeowner's insurance, because the greatest factor in that is, 'do you have good fire service?'”
West Pulaski residents who want to sign up for the new service can visit CARKW.com/WestPulaski.
