---
title: "Council OKs $4.5M Raccoon Mountain Waterline in Chattanooga"
url: https://www.herechattanooga.com/2026/10/24/raccoon-mountain-waterline-council-approves/
date: 2026-10-24T06:15:45-04:00
modified: 2026-10-24T06:44:12-04:00
author: "Elsa Cuevas"
categories: ["Politics"]
site: "HEREChattanooga"
attribution: "HEREChattanooga"
---

# Council OKs $4.5M Raccoon Mountain Waterline in Chattanooga

> CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Homes on Raccoon Mountain are a step closer to public water after Chattanooga City Council signed off on a deal worth just over $4.5 million to run a water main up the mountain. Under the deal, the city's public works department will pay Tennessee American Water, the private utility that supplies the

*Source: [HEREChattanooga](https://www.herechattanooga.com/2026/10/24/raccoon-mountain-waterline-council-approves/) — October 24, 2026 by Elsa Cuevas*

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Homes on Raccoon Mountain are a step closer to public water after Chattanooga City Council signed off on a deal worth just over $4.5 million to run a water main up the mountain.

Under the deal, the city’s public works department will pay Tennessee American Water, the private utility that supplies the city, to handle construction. Plans in the resolution lay out close to three miles of 8-inch main, with 14 new fire hydrants spaced along Raccoon Mountain Road.

The city’s estimated share is $4,545,157. That number is not final: once crews finish, the price will be trued up to what the work actually cost. The city then gets money back over a 10-year stretch as households tap into the new line. Tennessee American Water, a subsidiary of American Water Works, will own the pipe and keep it in repair.

Several of the homes the main will reach depend on private wells today. When the project came up for discussion in May, the estimate was $3.5 million, about $1 million below the amount approved this week.

No construction schedule has been set. The contract forgives delays tied to supply chain trouble, but the city can walk away if work has not started within a year.

The vote caps a long fight. Council first agreed to fund the water main in June on a 5-2 vote, and Councilman Chip Henderson has pushed for the project since 2013. Many people living on the mountain have had no public water at all, filling jugs at hydrants and creeks or buying it at stores, sometimes driving long distances or spending thousands of dollars to keep clean water at home. Raccoon Mountain rises on the west side of Lookout Valley and is also home to a state wildlife management area beside the TVA pumped-storage plant.