State Water Plan

On January 18, 2008, the Georgia House and Senate gave in to intense lobbying by the Perdue administration, the metro growth industry and others and passed a flawed state water plan that delays critical decisions on water management for three more years. The approved legislation does little more than call for data to be collected for the next three years and contains no enforceable action to address Georgia's water crisis.

The lengthy debate in both legislative chambers exposed the underlying problems with the plan, and there is a high level of interest in fixing these problems during the remaining days of the session.

Contact your legislators to voice your concern over the approved water plan and ask them to support legislation that does the following:.

(1) requires water planning by river basins;
(2) restricts interbasin transfers of water;
(3) provides for local nominations to regional water councils; and
(4) ensures that any new reservoirs are only used for water supply purposes.

To identify your own state legislators, click here.

Never has this process been more important, as Georgia and its neighboring states experience the most severe drought in recent history. But after a two-year process of gathering stakeholder input, revising policies and accepting revisions from the Water Council, the final plan approved by the legislature (created by EPD and the Water Council) fails to provide the necessary tools to protect Georgia’s water for today and future generations. The final draft of the water plan contains very few measures that will mandate water efficiency, protect downstream communities or provide for effective water planning entities. These problems, in addition to many others, make this plan detrimental to Georgia’s water future.

The Georgia Water Coalition and its members (including UCR) will continue to advocate for our key goals in the legislative arena to ensure enough clean water for all Georgians now and in the future. To read the GWC comments on the water plan click here.

To receive email alerts on legislation that will effect the management of Georgia’s water resources, sign up for the GEAN alert program here, and check back to our Legislative Program page for additional updates.

To visit the Water Council’s website go to: www.georgiawatercouncil.org. The Water Council is the 14-member group created to guide the development of the water plan.