The pieces are coming into place for an agreement that solves water needs for the county, Springfield and the Effingham Industrial Development Authority.

Effingham County commissioners approved deeding .63 of an acre just north of Highway 119 to Springfield so the city could put its planned new well there. By putting the well north of 119, the city will remove its water withdrawal from the state Environmental Protection Division’s “red zone” where water withdrawals from the upper Floridan aquifer are capped.

“It helps everybody,” interim County Administrator David Crawley said of the pact.

The EPD has mandated that cities and counties return to their 2004 water withdrawal levels.

The state EPD has signed off on a deal where Springfield gives up its entire water withdrawals in the red zone and the county gets 400,000 gallons of water per day from that. The IDA has pledged to help Springfield with the cost of the well and extending its lines to connect with its current system. The IDA is expected to get 150,000 gallons per day out of the deal for its I-16 project.

The city’s water tank at the existing industrial park on Highway 21 will remain in place for fire suppression needs.

With the additional water withdrawal, the county agreed to a water service agreement for Greenbrier subdivision. The development, on Highway 17 north of Blue Jay Road, is not close enough to county water lines to tie into them.

Bill Wasden of Greenbrier had been the list for water service the longest, county engineer Steve Liotta said.