Work has begun on phase one of the 1,117-acre Cobbs Creek Reservoir in northwestern Cumberland County.

Construction crews are currently in the process of clearing and creating a utility corridor around the western perimeter of the reservoir where Colonial Pipeline and Dominion are set to move their existing utilities, according to William Mawyer, Henrico County’s assistant director of public utilities.

The Henrico-owned $280 million reservoir will permanently inundate 80,020 linear feet, or just over 15 miles, of stream bed, according to the original permit for the reservoir issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The reservoir will permanently impact 15.3 miles of stream, almost 31 acres of wetland and 4.6 acres of open water, according to the DEQ permit.

The pipelines and power lines that are being moved currently travel through the planned pool area of the future reservoir.

“We have a construction contractor there who’s clearing an area about 200 feet wide. It’s going to be two-and-a-half miles long,” Mawyer said of phase one of the project. Thalle Construction, based out of Hillsborough, N.C., is performing the work for $5.2 million. Phase one should be

complete by January 2016, he said.

The augmentation reservoir will be located between Columbia Road and Cedar Plains Road near the James River. The reservoir is designed to release water into the James to augment river flow during the dry summer months and periods of drought. During times of sufficient river flow, such as the spring, the reservoir supply will be replenished.

According to the 2010 memorandum of understanding between the two counties, Henrico will pay Cumberland $1.13 million in annual contractual payments in lieu-of-taxes until 2060.

Following the completion of phase one, Colonial Pipeline will relocate their two high-pressure petroleum lines into the utility corridor, which should be completed by the fall of 2016. Dominion will install new overhead electric lines, which should be finished by early 2017, Mawyer said.

“Then we will advertise for bids for the construction of the dams and the intake structure and the pipeline and the staff building, pump station, all of the facilities that really constitute the reservoir,” he said, noting that Henrico hoped to start phase two in June 2017.

“It’ll take at least four years,” Mawyer said, noting 2022 as the completion year.

According to Cumberland County Administrator and Attorney Vivian Seay Giles, the county needs to adopt a watershed protection ordinance and identify recreational opportunities for the reservoir.

Most of the property that surrounds the reservoir is zoned agricultural, Giles said.