CULLMAN, Ala. – A homeowner on Lake Catoma can already mow the protected strip along the water only three times a year. What would change under a proposal before the Cullman City Council is the cost of a violation.
The city’s 2007 ordinance set fines at $50 to $500 per violation. The proposed minimum is $2,500 per violation upon conviction.
The Council is scheduled to give Ordinance No. 2026-56 a first reading Monday, Nov. 9.
The proposal names Lake Catoma, Lake George and Duck River Reservoir.
It is not yet law.
“Our responsibility is to protect the quality and reliability of the drinking water supply that serves our residents, businesses and surrounding communities,” Cullman City Council President Kim Hall said. “Many of our existing regulations are nearly 20 years old and were written before Duck River Reservoir became part of our water system.”
What already applies at Lake Catoma
Although the earlier ordinance is numbered 2008-05, the signed copy shows the Council adopted it Nov. 26, 2007, nearly 19 years ago.
It established a 35-foot buffer measured inland from the lake’s full-pool line, the mapped shoreline when the reservoir is full.
That line stays put even when the water recedes.
The 2007 ordinance allowed adjoining owners to mow the buffer once May 1-14, once July 1-14 and once Sept. 1-14.
The draft keeps those windows but adds two instructions: leave the grass at least 4 inches high and take clippings and debris outside the buffer.
Owners who want to make other landscaping changes could submit a written plan to the water treatment plant manager for review.
The Utilities Board would make the decision.
The earlier ordinance also prohibited swimming, wading and water skiing at Catoma.
It barred littering, unauthorized vehicles and access roads in the buffer and required written approval to use herbicides or pesticides there.
Catoma’s boat motor limit has a different history. On June 25, 2018, the Council raised it from 10 to 25 horsepower.
The proposal keeps the 25-horsepower limit and specifies that a boat with a larger motor attached cannot operate on the lakes even if that motor is switched off.
What the proposal means for shoreline owners
Hall said the update is intended to protect all three reservoirs.
“These reservoirs are among our community’s most valuable resources, and strengthening their protections is an investment in public health, safety and the long-term sustainability of our water supply,” she said.
The protected strip would not be the same width at all three lakes.
Measured from each lake’s full-pool line, it would extend 25 feet at Lake George, 35 feet at Lake Catoma and 100 feet at Duck River Reservoir.
For anyone planning to build, a different line matters and that is the Utilities Board’s property boundary.
The draft would prohibit construction on adjoining private land within 25 feet of that boundary, not 25 feet from the water.
At Catoma, the 2007 ordinance already set that construction setback. The proposal expressly includes private docks, their attachments and mooring systems.
The draft retains residential-use restrictions on adjoining land. It would exempt properties with pre-existing restricted uses unless the Board identifies an activity there that directly pollutes the water.
It would allow the plant manager or a designee to inspect those properties when there is evidence they are contributing to contamination.
The proposal also calls for at least 50 feet between an on-site sewage system or disposal field and the full-pool water source, with those facilities outside Board property.
What boaters and anglers should know
The public courtesy dock that opened at Catoma in August gives anglers a place to secure their boats while they park or retrieve a trailer.
Under the proposal, visitors could still use the dock for that purpose, but not for overnight docking, picnics, camping, fish cleaning or entering the water to swim or wade.
The draft would also prohibit sinking materials such as Christmas trees, pallets or tires in the lakes, including for fish habitat.
How the fine would work
The $2,500 figure is a floor, not a maximum or an automatic ticket.
The draft says fines would follow a conviction and would depend on damage, repeat violations and the threat to public safety.
A person could also be required to restore the buffer.
Counting individual plants, structures or acts as separate violations dates back to the 2007 Catoma ordinance.
The proposed increase matters because a single clearing project, for example, could result in more than one violation.
The Council meets at 6 p.m. Monday in the Cullman City Hall auditorium, 204 Second Ave. NE.
The lake ordinance is listed for a first reading, not a public hearing.
The agenda provides a general public comment period with a three-minute limit per speaker.
