Upgrades in the works may link two Warren County water districts to back up each other, while work to replace a storage tank remains on schedule.

Hilldale Water District is in line for $4 million in water infrastructure improvement funds from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to replace old lines with new ones that will connect with the neighboring Fisher Ferry Water District when either system needs backup supply.

“Storms, fires, lightning strikes, any time we need to open a valve if the other needs it,” Hilldale president Donald L. Robey said.

The program depends on a sponsoring entity to match 25 percent of funds spent on improvements, with the Corps to reimburse the other 75 percent. Warren County supervisors are expected to sign on to match the federal portion.

Additions planned previously, including a new 300,000-gallon tank, treatment plant and a well, remain on the drawing board depending on funding, Hilldale general manager Bradley Barnes said. In 2008, a $3.5 million rural development loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was announced for the district and will be paid in part from state sources, Robey said.

Hilldale’s service area is mainly east of Halls Ferry Road and south of Interstate 20. Fisher Ferry covers the south-central part of the county outside Vicksburg city limits, between Fisher Ferry and Halls Ferry roads, south to Jeff Davis Road. Both serve about 1,800 customers.

In the county’s largest independent water district, improvements will go on this year alongside a change in the front office.

The Culkin Water District’s storage tank in Bovina will be taken down by year’s end. A new, 300,000-gallon tank will go up in its place and be fed by its treatment plant on Birdsong Road. The project’s $3.2 million cost will be financed by the Drinking Water Systems Improvement Revolving Loan Fund, administered by the State Department of Health.

Culkin is operating without a general manager, as Ken McClellan retired effective Aug. 31, Culkin advisory board attorney Ken Harper said.

The five-member board, appointed by county supervisors, is reviewing options to either hire a replacement or contract out the position, Harper said.

Its rates are not regulated by the Mississippi Public Service Commission, but its water quality is measured by state health officials. Its base of 4,250 customers is in northeast Warren County.

Longer-range projects round out the basis of nearly $5 million in projects in an overall facilities plan first crafted in 1997 and updated this year. It involves addition of a fourth district-owned well to double Culkin’s purifying capacity to 4 million gallons and a systemwide upgrade of pipes.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com