The Warren County Water District is eyeing construction of a project to begin later this year to bring around 20 miles of new water and sewer service to both the Kentucky Transpark and other areas of northern Warren County.

Warren County Water District General Manager Jacob Cuarta said with 10 miles of new water line and 10 miles of sewer infrastructure planned, the project is the largest ever undertaken by the company.

“With all this economic growth or industrial growth that we’re having out there, there was a need for additional capacity of water and sewer for that area,” Cuarta said.

The project will aid several new business developments in the Transpark. Cuarta cited the upcoming Envision AESC battery plant and the newly opened Tyson Foods facility, and said the project will support an increase in residential areas in that vicinity.

The $355 million, 400,000 square-foot Tyson Foods facility opened in January. The facility supports Tyson’s Jimmy Dean and Wright’s bacon brands and when it opened, it was predicted to produce 2 million pounds of bacon per week.

Envision is a Japan-based manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles. The company’s $2 billion, 3 million-square-foot facility in Warren County will create an estimated 2,000 jobs and is expected to go online next year, reaching full capacity in 2027.

“All that job creation will inevitably lead to additional residential growth and commercial growth that will happen in the north Warren area,” Cuarta said.

WCWD is working with BGMU to complete the project. Cuarta said WCWD is a wholesale customer of BGMU, meaning water is sold to WCWD and then passed along to customers. The lines will run from BGMU’s water treatment plant, where the collected wastewater will be treated.

Even though entities such as AESC and Tyson are expected to be large users, Cuarta said it’s difficult to estimate the total number of customers who will be served by the project. However, he said design work on the project is being done “intentionally.”

“We know that north Warren County is an underserved area of the county, especially in our water district for north Warren,” Cuarta said. “We’re being very strategic (in) that we want to ensure that we have the quantities available for other customers out there.”

Cuarta said the project is being handled by a construction manager that will establish a “guaranteed maximum price” for the project.

Construction on the project is expected to begin this fall. Cuarta said construction is planned to take 16 to 18 months and be complete in early 2026.

Along with treating wastewater from the area, BGMU will also complete some work on the project. Joe Pavoni, manager of BGMU’s water and wastewater systems, said BGMU will construct around two miles of line to direct flow to the treatment plant.

Bowling Green City Commissioners on May 7 approved an agreement between BGMU and the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority, which provided a loan totaling over $8.6 million to BGMU.

“This is a big project, and it’s important to the community,” Pavoni said.