Water and wastewater in Bedford County

At the June 23, 2026 Planning Commission meeting — the meeting where the commission voted to recommend a one-year county moratorium on data centers (that story is covered in full on the data centers page) — the discussion turned on water. The planning director, referring to a large data-center facility in Memphis raised in the discussion, said:

"I know for a fact that we don't have the water to support, let's just say if we just use the one in Memphis … we don't have that much water available for that. So that one is … it can use up to five million gallons a day and we probably have in excess two million gallons a day. And that's if we don't develop anything else." — the planning director, Bedford County Regional Planning Commission, June 23, 2026 (video, 43:55–44:17 · transcript)

He went on to describe why, in his account, the supply is bounded: the county has "access to only the water that is part of the [watershed] that goes into the … Normandy reservoir. … we can't get more water than that. … It's not all the water around us" (video, 45:10). In the same discussion it was said that a manufacturing plant "ha[s] to put back 80% of what they use," while in a data center "they use an evaporative cooling process for the chips … so they can't reuse it" (video, 44:43; the captions carry no speaker labels for that exchange). These are statements from the record — this page does not assert them as measured facts about the water supply or about any facility. Quotations here are transcribed from the county video's machine captions; bracketed text replaces words the captions garble, and ellipses mark omitted or repeated words.

• Executive Order 108 (November 20, 2024). Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order "to conserve the Duck River watershed," establishing the Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership — a 19-member body chaired by the TDEC commissioner or a designee, which expires December 31, 2026. In the order's own words, the Duck River "is the sole water source for approximately 250,000 Tennesseans in an area of this State that is experiencing rapid growth and development." Among the order's directives: TDEC is to collaborate with TVA and others to "update and revise the Normandy Reservoir Management Plan," and TDEC "is directed to evaluate large scale engineering projects for near-term drought mitigation and long-term sustainability of the Duck River," to be "evaluated on a cost and feasibility basis and presented to the Governor."
• Bedford County's planning director sits on the Partnership. The county's own announcement states that Director of Planning and Zoning Chris White was appointed by Gov. Lee to represent local government, with the appointment running through December 31, 2026. The same county page states the Duck River "spans more than 280 miles through seven Middle Tennessee counties, including 90 miles in Bedford County."
• The Partnership has reported once. Its initial report to the Governor is dated November 20, 2025 and is posted on TDEC's Partnership page (both linked below).
• What comes next, in the director's account. At the February 24, 2026 Planning Commission meeting, White announced that the Partnership's chair had made him chairperson of a new committee "charged with taking the midterm report that we produced in November and trying to actionalize … those recommendations" (video, 57:29). He described the options that committee will compare:

  "We'll be looking at things like the raising of the Normandy dam and we're going to compare that with maybe a pipeline … as a[n] interbasin transfer from … Tims Ford and we're going to try to compare what the costs are for those things and the feasibility … We'll be looking at trying to put a dollar figure and an engineering study to each one of those things." — Chris White, Bedford County Regional Planning Commission, February 24, 2026 (video, 57:43 · transcript)

  He also said he had been permitted to add a member with a wastewater background to his committee — described in the captions as the general manager of the local "power, water, sewer" utility (the captions garble both the name and the utility) (video, 58:55). These are his statements from the record. No decision between a dam raise, a pipeline, or any other option appears in the sources reviewed for this page.

• Created by the County Commission on November 11, 2025. The official minutes record the commission establishing a decentralized wastewater system advisory committee — amended on the floor to be called a "committee rather than a board," to have "all of their meetings … livestreamed," and to "report the plan back to the CLB [county legislative body] within 1 year." A motion to defer failed 9–8 (a deferral needed 10 yes votes); the motion to establish the committee then passed by roll call, 13 ayes and 4 passes. The minutes record Commissioner Yockey saying the committee "has no authority, only an advisory committee," and that "any cost will go back to the developer."
• Seven members, ratified the same night (13 ayes, 4 passes). As the mayor put the names forward, per the minutes: Alan Gill, chairman; Lynn Kasicki, attorney; Denny Hastings, retired developer; John Boutwell, Rules Committee; Keith Davis, Property Committee; Kasey Kesselring, finance/banking; Samuel Coats, soil conservation.
• What it is for, in the commissioners' own words. The minutes record Commissioner Neeley saying "the original intent of the committee was to strengthen the regulations for decentralized wastewater systems and to get information and input from knowledgeable professionals," and Commissioner Anderson saying "the state's standards are too low and if we don't do something we will be stuck with their standards." Gill, asked at the meeting to explain his understanding of the role, said his vision was "to gather information from experienced professionals and communities that have been successful with step systems and bring recommendations to the planning commission."
• It has met monthly and heard specialists. Reporting to the Planning Commission on February 24, 2026, Gill said the committee had met every month since its December organizational meeting, adopted bylaws in January, and heard from an engineer and the chief executive of the consolidated utility district in Murfreesboro, then from a state soil scientist, with an installer of the systems scheduled next (video, 48:15–50:56 · transcript; details in this passage are as the machine captions record them). Another speaker at that meeting added: "This has nothing to do with your septic system that's on your individual lot. We are not going to come on your property and tell you what to do with your septic system" (video, 55:19). The county posts the committee's agendas, minutes, and livestream videos on its "Other boards and committees" meetings page.
• What happens in August, per the record. The committee's chairman told the Planning Commission on July 28, 2026 that "the wastewater committee probably have something at the next meeting" — and, asked directly "Will you be ready to present that at the August meeting?", answered: "Hope so. … we're going to have a meeting in next few weeks and hopefully we get it approved through our committee and … able to send it to the planning commission … but to say for sure now if it doesn't pass or we need to do some more it may have to go another meeting." He credited the planning director with drafting the document — "it's a really good doc" and "Chris did a really good job on it" (video, 1:15:46–1:16:48 · transcript; the captions carry no speaker labels — the speaker refers to "our committee," which Gill chairs per the November 11 minutes). Separately, the county lists a Wastewater Advisory Committee regular meeting on August 13, 2026, with its agenda posted, on the committee meetings page linked below. The planning director said on July 28 that amendments arising from his pending list "would be … amendments to the … subdivision regulations and so we would have to have a public hearing for that" (video, 1:10:34).

These are the water bodies and utilities documented in the sources below. Which system serves a specific address is a question for the utilities themselves — this page does not determine service areas.

• Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewerage System — in TVA's description, it "provides the city of Shelbyville in Middle Tennessee with power, water and sewer services," was incorporated in 1939, and "has more than 9,850 business and residential customers." (TVA local power company page)
• Bedford County Utility District — in its own words, it "seeks to be the premier provider of water and natural gas service for Bedford County." It publishes its water rates, rules and water-quality reports and posts monthly board-meeting agendas on its news page.
• Duck River Utility Commission — established in 1976, it "operates state-of-the-art water treatment and pumping facilities on TVA's Normandy Reservoir supplying drinking water to approximately 60,000 area residents," and "supplies … Manchester, Tullahoma, and the surrounding areas," per the City of Tullahoma's page on the commission. (Tullahoma, DRUC page)
• The Duck River Agency — the state-created agency headquartered at 210 E. Depot St. in Shelbyville. Executive Order 108 describes its "statutory mission of developing and implementing comprehensive plans and programs for the control, management, and development of the water resources in the Duck River Watershed." Its enabling statutes, annual reports, and audits are posted on its site.
• Normandy Dam and Reservoir (TVA) — completed in 1976 on the Duck River, "operated for flood damage reduction, water supply, and recreational opportunities." TVA notes it "is not a hydroelectric facility" and that the 17-mile reservoir "was created in the 1970s to aid in the economic development of the upper Duck River region."

Each open question below is answerable by a specific public document or vote. As those appear, this page fills in.

Open question	What would answer it
What does the wastewater committee's document actually say? Its text has not been published on the county pages reviewed for this page.	The document itself, when it reaches a Planning Commission agenda packet or the committee's posted minutes
Will the committee approve its document in August and send it to the Planning Commission? The July 28 statement above is a stated hope, not a completed action.	The committee's August 13 minutes and the Planning Commission's August agenda and minutes, on the county's meeting pages
Will the Duck River plan be a raised Normandy Dam, a Tims Ford pipeline, both, or neither? The February 24 statement describes studies being commissioned, not a decision.	The Partnership's reports on TDEC's Partnership page, and any engineering study it publishes
What are the county's measured water-supply and water-use figures? The 2-million and 5-million gallons-per-day figures on this page are meeting statements, not published measurements.	Utility withdrawal permits and reporting filed with TDEC, and the utilities' own published reports
Which utility serves which parts of the county, exactly?	Service-area maps or determinations from the utilities themselves
Will the County Commission adopt the recommended data-center moratorium that the water discussion motivated?	The September County Commission agenda and vote — tracked on the data centers page

Every source this page uses is public. Watch the meetings and read the documents directly:

• Wastewater Advisory Committee agendas, minutes & videos — on the county's "Other boards and committees" page.
• Planning Commission agendas & videos — the county's own listing.
• County Commission meetings — agendas, packets, official minutes, and videos, including the November 11, 2025 minutes (PDF) that created the wastewater committee.
• Open Bedford's searchable transcripts: February 24, June 23, and July 28, 2026 Planning Commission meetings (machine captions; the video is the record).
• TDEC's Duck River Watershed Planning Partnership page — with Executive Order 108 (PDF) and the Partnership's initial report (PDF).
• The Duck River Agency — enabling statutes, annual reports, audits, and river data.
• Bedford County TN Government YouTube channel — all county meeting videos, including the wastewater committee livestreams.

The Wastewater Advisory Committee's meetings are public, livestreamed by County Commission direction (per the November 11, 2025 minutes), and listed with agendas on the county's committee meetings page — its next listed regular meeting is August 13, 2026. Any change the Planning Commission makes to the subdivision regulations requires a public hearing, per the planning director's statements at the February 24 and July 28 meetings cited above. The county's published procedure for speaking at meetings is on its Speak at a Meeting page.