More state funds advance Garrett Ridge water line project in Vinton County

The Garrett Ridge water line project gained more state money on June 22, extending Jackson County Water Company service into western Vinton County.

The latest funding keeps planning, engineering and construction moving on a project that has been scaled and re-scoped several times as costs and design needs became clearer. Early state support in 2022 included a $799,000 grant for engineering and construction. That version of the project was expected to add about 10 miles of water line and serve about 52 residents.

By 2023, the Garrett Ridge effort had grown into a $5.854 million buildout aimed at 24 homes that still were not served by public water systems. That plan called for more than 18,000 linear feet of watermain, upgrades at the State Route 327 and Kelly Road pumping stations and a new 132,000-gallon storage tank. Officials at the time said about 130 people would benefit. In December 2023, Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced another $2 million through H2Ohio for Garrett Ridge, with money set aside for new 16-inch lines, booster station upgrades and a new water storage tank.

Construction started in 2025. Crews started work on March 17, 2025, on what had become a highly elevated service area expected to reach 40 or more homes. That phase included a 111,000-gallon tank planned for a high hill on land Jackson County Water Co. purchased.

Garrett Betts, Jenny Betts and their daughter Katie had spent more than a decade hauling water because their home sat about 250 feet uphill from the community line. Terri Fetherolf of the Vinton County Development Office said about 1,700 of the county’s roughly 5,000 households depend on wells or hauled water for basic needs. Joe Pheil of the Ohio Rural Water Association said the steep Appalachian terrain, where water has to be pumped over hills and through multiple pressure zones, is one reason service costs so much more than in flatter parts of Ohio.

Jackson County Water Co. is carrying the project. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency case study lists Jackson County Water Company at about 800 miles of mains and 6,000 connections, while the former Vinton County system had about 42 miles of mains and 600 connections. The same case study found Vinton County faced rising costs, staff turnover, weak recordkeeping and compliance concerns before the systems were folded together over nearly two decades.