While approximately 11 people spoke during the public hearing on the Squaw Creek Watershed project, the crowd's reaction to the project was mixed.

Clarke County Reservoir Commission (CCRC) held a public hearing on the project Dec. 6 at Clarke County Fairgrounds Events Center building. Approximately 100 people were in attendance.

Before the public hearing started, Sandy Kale, the commission's chairperson for Osceola Water Board said, "We all know on this board that Osceola is in dire need of an alternate water source. Many of us have worked on this project since 2000 or when we actually started the project in 2004. The basic thing is we need an alternate water source.The one we have is too small. Right now, it's being taxed to its limits. We are now 52 inches down, and last month we averaged 1.189 million gallons a day. Our financial consultants have told us we can build this lake. Our engineers have provided a very good plan for us. It took a lot of work to do the plan. We made changes, and changes and changes to comply with every regulation that we were aware of and that we can change. We have done those plans."