Mountain Home officials are pressing forward with plans for a new water intake system on Norfork Lake but face a significant financial hurdle, as the project is estimated to cost between $100 million and $120 million. During the annual State of the City presentation to the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Mayor Hillrey Adams emphasized the critical need for the project and detailed ongoing efforts to identify funding sources beyond bonds and rate increases.
“We can’t afford it by simply financing or raising rates,” Mayor Adams said later in an interview. “We have to offset it.”
The new intake is necessary due to the age and location of the current system, which Adams noted is roughly 55 to 60 years old, situated on the shallow side of the lake. Prolonged low water levels have previously required the city to deploy a barge to extend piping into deeper areas of the lake to maintain water supply. The planned intake will be relocated to the old river channel, where the lake is naturally deeper.
The importance of the new intake extends beyond Mountain Home, which provides water wholesale to Midway and Northeast Lakeside and serves as an auxiliary provider for Gassville and Cotter. “It’s critical to 75 percent of the people in Baxter County that we supply water to. We need to get that intake project going,” Adams told the audience at the breakfast, held at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home.
Preliminary engineering is already underway, and residents may have noticed a barge on Norfork Lake engaged in soil boring and other preparatory work. According to Adams, the city secured the necessary permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, concluding a lengthy review process. Surveying is also being conducted on four parcels near the proposed intake site to comply with a state-mandated 300-foot buffer around water intakes.
The city hired Garver Engineering to lead the design phase, supported in part by $1 million in federal funding acquired last year. Garver is also investigating potential loans and grants through organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC).
During Monday's breakfast, attendees raised questions about Issue 4, a $500 million water bond measure approved by Arkansas voters in 2020, which channels funds through the ANRC to local water and sewer projects. Adams said Mountain Home has previously applied for but not received ANRC funding, opting instead for private financing. He expressed hope that the intake project would be eligible for assistance this time.
The intake is part of broader infrastructure work totaling tens of millions of dollars in water and sewer upgrades since 2019. Recent initiatives include the $10 million rehabilitation of the city’s water treatment plant, which introduced ultraviolet light disinfection to replace chlorine, and a $20 million modernization of the wastewater plant. Earlier this year, the City Council approved $20 million in revenue bonds for a pump station and transmission main connecting key water storage facilities, with construction slated to begin in 2027.
Beyond major projects, Mountain Home has invested in system maintenance such as replacing over 12,500 feet of aging water lines and launching a decade-long effort to restore its water tanks. The city is also using advanced GPS technology to map its pipes and valves to prevent future disruptions and outages.
By accelerating these upgrades, Adams said Mountain Home hopes to avoid infrastructure crises seen in other areas of the state. “You hear the horror stories that are going on over in Helena-West Helena, and now they’re saying big issues in Northwest Arkansas. Part of the growth you saw here today is an issue of water. We’re trying to get ahead of that,” he said.