DEWITTVILLE – Construction for a long-awaited water project has finally been authorized.

During the Chautauqua Town Board meeting, board members approved the engineering proposal for construction of Water District #2.

The entire project will cost around $8.19 million and take possibly up to two years to construct.

The water district includes Chautauqua Lake Estates and the Villas at Chautauqua Point in the Dewittville area. It will also include the former Chautauqua Point Golf Course where a $70 million project has been proposed.

The water district currently receives water from Chautauqua Lake. That will change once the work is completed.

There are two ground wells in Dewittville that will provide the water to the district.

Back in 2022, residents in the district were informed that the town was looking to switch from lake water to well water. Part of the reason is because the town’s water treatment plant needed to be upgraded and it would have been more expensive to change the treatment plant than it would have been to drill for new wells.

Mike Manning from Ramboll, an engineering and consultant firm, said when the work is finished the current water plant will be demolished. “The site will be turned to grade. It will be all cleaned out like it was never there,” he said.

Manning said the district received a little more than a $4 million grant. It was also awarded a $3.669 million interest-free loan.

Town Councilman Tom Carlson said he thought the project could move along quickly once it begins. “I think this will be a six-month project at most,” he said.

However Manning said he thinks it will take longer, saying that it could finish in late 2026 or early 2027.

Even though the town board has approved the contract, Manning said he doesn’t expect construction to begin until the summer.