The federal government will spend $3 million to fix a nearly 180-year-old western Kentucky dam that affects the water supply for nearly 50,000 people.
Multiple media outlets report U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell announced the grant earlier this week. The dam was first built in 1838 with rocks held in place by wood. The dam is deteriorating, and repair plans call for using more boulders and holding them in place with wood pilings driven into the riverbed. The dam helps provide water for nearly 50,000 people.
If the dam fails, the water level would sink so low some counties and large employers would no longer have water. The grant was not possible without a 2016 federal law that transferred ownership of several dams along the Green River to local entities