GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Tapping into Lake Huron isn't going to be as easy as drawing water through a straw.

Construction of a water intake will be tricky work, requiring the mechanical precision of divers who will connect sections of 72-inch diameter pipe underwater, as well as the brute force of power augers which will open tunnels under the beach and lake floor.

The county Board of Commissioners

to stand behind up to $35 million in borrowing to build the first section of a water pipeline from here to Lake Huron with the end goal of firing the city of Detroit as the area's water supplier.

County officials have complained for years about being subject to Detroit water rate increases. The price of water has increased by double-digit percentages for seven straight years, including 10.4 percent in 2012.

Most public water customers in the county get Detroit water through their township or city after it is delivered to Genesee County through a Detroit-owned pipeline to Lake Huron.

Construction of the Genesee County intake is expected to take 12 to 30 months to complete and to bring an estimated 250 workers to Worth Township in St. Clair County, where Genesee County owns

of land, including 40 acres of shoreline where the construction is projected to start in 2013.

The first ground broken will be on the west side of M-25, a sandy, pine tree-dotted piece of the property, according to county Drain Commissioner Jeff Wright. Workers will tunnel deep under the state road, past the shoreline and under the lakebed 1,500 feet into Lake Huron.

From there, construction will move to a barge that's anchored in the lake.

Wright said the contractor chosen for the job will have up to 39 months to complete the intake but could finish much sooner -- depending on how weather and resulting waves affect work on the barge

"You already have engineers and surveyors -- probably 20 of those -- that have already worked on (the intake)," Wright said. "You're going to have a barge crew, truckers bringing materials in, and a tunnel crew..."

Timber workers, pipeline manufacturers, soil testers and equipment operators will all be part of the work crew that's assembled by the contractor chosen by the county.

That work won't start until the drain commissioner receives a permit to build the intake from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, something that could happen any day now that a waiting period has passed without public comment.

Design and engineering work has already been completed.

County officials say they will publish a notice of the intent to borrow as much as $35 million after receiving that Army Corps permit, starting a 45-day referendum period during which residents can collect petition signatures to force a public vote on the borrowing.

Wright said he doesn't expect to start borrowing for the intake project until February or March but in rural Worth Township, officials are expecting to see -- and benefit -- from the work site in the short-term and the long run.

"There's been a lot of curiosity (from) Worth Township," said Sanilac County Drain Commissioner Greg Alexander. "We have had public notices in the paper (but) not a lot of questions" from the general public yet.

Alexander expects some economic fallout from the intake work for restaurants and retailers.

"It can never hurt to have those people in the area," he said. "There will be a little surge there."

Here are some key elements to the intake construction as well as some related facts about the project, according to a 2009 preliminary engineering report:

Two-headed monster: A 72-inch steel transmission pipe that's part of the intake will be fed water by dual 60-inch inlets about 1.5 miles from shore in water about 30 feet deep.

Wood cribs: The inlets to pull water into the 72-inch intake pipe will be protected by 80-by-80-foot wood cribs that are designed to help discourage the formation of ice. Built on the shore of mainly Douglas fir timbers, the crib will be bolted together and floated about 1.5 miles into the lake. Once at the site of the intakes, the crib will be weighted with concrete and crushed rock underwater.

Zebra mussel protection: Both intakes have chemical feeds to control zebra mussels, which have caused havoc for other Great Lakes water intakes.

Shipping lanes: Ships hauling iron ore, stone, coal and other bulk products are a common sight on Lake Huron and freighters create a draft nearly 30 feet below the water level. The depth of the intake is planned to be a minimum of 30 feet from the lake surface to the top of the crib to account for ship draft.

Intake location: Although the most desirable location for the intake structure would be in 46 feet of water, the cost of being that far from shore would make it much more expensive than putting the structure closer to shore.

Ron Fonger can be reached at 810-347-9963. You can also follow him on Twitter @ronfonger or subscribe on Facebook.