Columbus wants to annex most of the 2,800-acre Hoover Reservoir and surrounding land, saying it's trying to protect the drinking water source and surrounding environment for the city.
The annexation includes 900 acres in Franklin County and nearly 2,000 acres in neighboring Delaware County. Most of the acreage is the actual water at the dam and to the north but also some land near the reservoir.
The city already owns the dam and maintains the area around it at a few parks and preserves in the area. Along with being one of Columbus' largest sources of drinking water, the reservoir is used for recreation like fishing and boating.
Bryan Clark, deputy director of the city's Department of Development, told WOSU the main mission is to ensure the buffer zone of protected land filtering out pollutants is protected. Clark also wants to assure people that there will be minimal impact to the rights of nearby property owners.
"[T]hat we continue to have these public uses of green space around Hoover Reservoir. And those uses do allow private property owners to get access to the reservoir. They can apply with Columbus and Water and Power for say a private deck," Clark said.
Clark said the zoning of the surrounding area is also an issue. He said the city annexing the reservoir and land will ensure the zoning remains as public use.
Clark stressed the importance of the surrounding area to the quality of the drinking water.
"The buffer zone around here, the reservoir is really important to filter out pollutants, chemicals that we don't want in our water (and prevent) extra sediment going into the water. These (pollutants) make it even more expensive to process the water and clean drinking water," Clark said.
Columbus needs to seek approvals in Delaware County to annex the remaining 2,000 acres. Almost all of the land the city is annexing was already owned by the city.
The city is annexing some public boat ramps, public park land and the Mud Hen Marsh Nature Preserve and Hoover Meadows Nature Preserve.
Clark said this is one of the largest annexations in Columbus' history.
