Georgia Wildlife Federation

Consumptive Use Budgets. Interbasin transfers. Aquifer storage and recovery. These terms may not be on the minds of most Georgians, but for the 250 Georgians serving on various water planning advisory committees, they have become common language. Each of these concepts has been vetted during the 18-month long statewide water management planning process, and Georgia's first statewide water management plan is nearing completion.

With much assistance from advisory committee members and input from concerned citizens at town hall meetings, the Georgia EPD staff has spearheaded a water planning process that addresses a variety of water concerns. The long-awaited comprehensive statewide water management plan will be delivered to the state's Water Council on June 28. The Council will deliver the final document to the Georgia General Assembly on the first day of the 2008 session.

The water plan is separated into two main sections, water quantity and water quality, with several management practices under each section. Because Georgia's water resources vary tremendously depending on the region, the plan will provide for flexibility, allowing each region to select the management practices that are most appropriate.

For managing water quantity, the Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) fully supports water conservation and reuse measures as a first step before other options are considered. Water conservation and reuse are highly efficient; they are the most cost-effective way to increase our supply statewide. Other water quantity management tools being proposed are interbasin transfers of water, reservoirs, land application systems, and septic system management. The one proposed management tool that the GWC does not support is aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), the practice of injecting water into aquifers underlying our coastal plain areas. The injected water may negatively impact the water quality in the aquifers -- a major drinking water and irrigation source for South Georgia.

EPD has proposed a new framework for managing water quantity -- called the Consumptive Use Budget (CUB). The CUB will represent the water available for use by a community after accounting for water needed for instream and downstream uses. The CUB framework will vary depending upon where you live and allows each region the flexibility to determine how it will stay within its limits. Each region can use a variety of mandatory and voluntary conservation practices, take steps to increase return flows, or use a combination of both measures. As sub-basins approach their CUB limit, more aggressive conservation and return practices will be required in that area.

For protecting water quality, the GWC agrees with the majority of concepts within the proposed management tools, which include managing land use impacts, centralized wastewater treatment systems, septic systems, and wasteload allocation on a watershed basis. However, one proposal we do not support is water pollution trading -- a highly questionable practice that risks water quality because of a lack of monitoring statewide and the potential for pollution hot spots in certain areas, which could lead to fish kills and other consequences.

In addition to water quantity and quality management proposals, the water plan will contain guidance for regional water planning, which will take place in the next planning phase. Regional planning is where the rubber will meet the road relating to which management tools will work best in various sections of the state.

Currently, there is no funding to proceed with regional water planning. Yet, without program money there's no hope of successfully implementing the statewide water management plan and ensuring enough clean water for all Georgians. We urge you to talk to your legislators about sufficiently funding the next phase of the water planning process.

For more information on the management practices mentioned above and the policy recommendations of the 145 organizations, businesses, and associations of the Georgia Water Coalition, please view The 2006 Report of the Georgia Water Coalition at www.georgiawater.org.