Blue Oval City will produce Ford's new EV truck and bring thousands of jobs and up to 100,000 people to West Tennessee. With rapid development in the Memphis Sand Aquifer Recharge Zone, how do we best protect recharge and promote sustainable growth and development in West Tennessee?
The West Tennessee Megasite is a massive, 4100-acre industrial development in Haywood County, TN spearheaded by Ford & SK Innovation’s Megasite, a $5.6 Billion Electric Vehicle & Battery Manufacturing mega-campus. Known as “Blue Oval City," the project will bring thousands of new jobs, industries, & residents to this currently rural region of West Tennessee. West Tennessee Planning estimates over 100,000 new residents will move to West Tennessee by 2035. Construction of Blue Oval City began in June 2022 and the facility is slated to open in 2025.
Thanks to our study with NASA, we have identified the Memphis Regional Megasite as a vulnerable area of the Memphis Sand Aquifer where it overlies the Recharge Zone. This is important to understand since this is where rainwater seeps its way into the aquifer very quickly.
As rainwater infiltrates into the subsurface, so can toxins that are spilled \\and not cleaned up immediately.
While Ford has made progressive commitments to sustainability & water management in their development, we must ensure that surrounding residential, industrial, & commercial development in West Tennessee prevents groundwater pollution and allows for aquifer recharge. This means pushing for green infrastructure, water conservation, and low-impact development. The more concrete is poured, the less water our aquifer gets!
It was recently confirmed through onsite drilling that there is no protective clay layer overlying the Memphis Sand Aquifer beneath Blue Oval City.
The West Tennessee Megasite Authority has been diligent about protecting the Aquifer by completing a Wellhead Protection Plan for their public water supply system and looking at ways to protect water quality in the long term.
In the wake of Ford's Blue Oval City announcement, a group of West Tennessee stakeholders including TDEC, POA, UOM CAESER, Jackson Electric Authority, MLGW, Farm Bureau, Young, Gifted and Green, Ducks Unlimited, Ford, TN Assoc. of Utility Districts, TN Wildlife Federation, TN Municipal League, and the Nature Conservancy formed the West TN H2O group to discuss the impact of Blue Oval City and the expected growing pains associated with it. We have been meeting and building relationships over the past two years to figure out the best way to protect our water resources that we share and value for the benefit of all who call West Tennessee home.
One thing that the West TN H2O group will focus on is the Groundwater Monitoring Network, or a series of wells that report much-needed data about groundwater levels across the network. At this point, it really does not exist except in Shelby County. How can you manage an aquifer system without know how much water you have? It's like managing your bank account without knowing the balance.
The Recharge Zone and how water gets into the system varies from place to place. Learn about West Tennessee recharge.
Explore West Tennessee Planning and learn about current development plans. Click here for population and employment forcasts and infographics.
Check out NASA’s latest findings on the Mississippi Embayment, studying aquifer vulnerabilities around Ford’s Megasite Development.
Blue Oval City permits, comment letters and NEPA study. If you want the latest, go directly to the TDEC Dataviewer and search permits, documents, complaints, inspections and plans. Search keywords: Blue Oval, Megasite Authority, or Ford Motor.
