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Toward A Statewide Water Policy
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In this article, Georgia Conservancy trustees C. Ronald Carroll, Ph.D., and Laurie Fowler, J.D., L.L.M., both of the University of Georgia's Institute of Ecology, address the need to adopt sound water management policies throughout the state, beginning with the formulation of a statewide plan. Toward A Statewide Water Policy Unless Georgia takes bold steps to develop an equitable and ecologically sustainable means of allocating water and disposal capacity, the state's economy will soon falter. Growth in metropolitan areas will come to a screeching halt with the imposition of sewer bans and water restrictions. Nothing short of an overhaul of state water policy and a coordinated plan of action involving all levels of government, the business community and our citizenry will prove effective at addressing this challenge. Georgia has been blessed with abundant supplies of clean surface and ground water. Yet our failure to manage this resource wisely has been apparent for decades. For example, we have known since the 1970s that overpumping has resulted in saltwater intrusion on the coast. The failures of Atlanta's sewer plants and combined sewage overflows are old news. Summer water restrictions have been imposed in some metropolitan counties at least since the 1980s. Even before a lawsuit compelled the state to identify and control both point and nonpoint sources of pollution in degraded waters, we knew that runoff from agriculture and development was contributing large amounts of sediment, nutrients and toxics into Georgia's rivers. As a result, many of our streams failed to meet their designated use for recreation, fishing, or other purposes. A number of fish and mussel species have been added to the federal endangered and threatened species list as a result of sedimentation, construction of impoundments and other stresses. Too often the response to these stresses has been slow and piecemeal. Georgia has wasted precious time, money and political goodwill in battles between regions (one headline says that a proposed interbasin transfer from the Coosa to Chattahoochee basin will incite a "civil war") and between different categories of water users. Certainly there have been innovative bright spots. These include former
Governor Miller's RiverCare 2000 program, which amassed volumes of information
about Georgia's river systems and jump-started several key river protection
and restoration efforts. The Environmental Protection Division requires
local governments to perform watershed assessments before increasing either
the amount of pollutants they discharge or the water they withdraw from
our streams. Governor Barnes's Community Green Space Program provides
funding to acquire and protect land adjacent to sensitive water resources. Recommendations for a water policy
Placing the public trust doctrine at the center of state water policy will help ensure that decisions are based on the long-term health of water bodies and that ecological principles are adhered to. It will also give us the flexibility to manage water resources differently in various eco-regions and accommodate such phenomena as global climate change. These principles would then inform more detailed elements of a state plan, such as the development of a mechanism for evaluating the efficacy of transferring water from one river basin to another, taking into account the ecological and economic effects to both the donor and receiving system as well as conservation efforts of the receiving system. It would lead to the development of a strategy that ensures that as we withdraw more surface water for industrial, commercial and domestic needs, we leave a natural flow that protects the aquatic eco-system. The most complex issue to resolve is the political structure of a comprehensive water management policy. While it is clear that Georgia needs a statewide water management plan, it is just as clear that major parts of such a plan must be influenced and implemented by a regional entity. Existing political organizations are not up to the task of protecting water from nonpoint sources of pollution. For example, the river basin management plans and total maximum daily loads that the state Environmental Protection Division has developed, fail to identify and mandate implementation strategies that would control nonpoint source pollution. Though some local governments have taken action to protect water quality, these actions are uneven at best and are rarely coordinated along watershed lines. One county may be reluctant to take aggressive actions to protect riparian
buffers and limit impervious surfaces without assurances that upstream
jurisdictions will do the same. Recent attempts to organize regional,
watershed-based coalitions such as the Lake Allatoona Preservation Authority,
the Upper Etowah River Alliances and the Alcovy Watershed Assessment are
encouraging. These coordinated efforts should be an integral part of state
policy. What should water cost? Likewise, many local governments in Georgia still use a declining block water rate whereby the more water a consumer uses, the lower the price per unit is charged. Appropriately valuing the resource sends a strong message to consumers. User fees, such as the City of Griffin's adoption of a stormwater utility that taxes the amount of impervious surface on a property, should be the norm rather than the exception. Fortunately, once a political and pricing structure exists that encourages
the protection and efficient use of our water resources, the tools for
doing so are already at hand. Take, for example, the issue of water efficiency.
Tremendous strides have been made in western states, where water has long
been scarce, to make more efficient use and reuse of water. The technology
to reuse wastewater on a large scale, to recycle gray water at the household
level, and to make plumbing fixture such as faucets, toilets, and clothes
washers more efficient is well established. In controlling nonpoint sources
pollution, vegetated riparian buffers along waterways are very effective
at trapping and filtering pollutants. Protecting green spaces and using
permeable paving surfaces dramatically reduces stormwater runoff. We know
how wide these buffers should be and what regulatory and incentive policies
have helped achieve these buffers in other states. Several Georgia companies
manufacture these permeable paving surfaces, and there are plenty of examples
of effective programs that can assure that septic tanks are maintained
without the contamination of surface and groundwater supplies. Georgia needs more research to monitor rivers and water supply
Georgia is fortunate to have resources available to help our leaders
make science-based management and policy decisions governing these complex
issues. The University System of Georgia and research institutions throughout
the state provide citizens and community leaders with technical expertise
and reliable guidance. In this respect, The Georgia Conservancy and the
University of Georgia's Institute of Ecology have formed a partnership.
Objective research conducted through the institute provides the Conservancy
staff with the support to make organizational positions and broad-based
policy recommendations on issues such as water rights, total maximum daily
loads, watershed restoration, and conservation strategies. The institute
looks forward to continuing this partnership and the healthy relationships
it fosters. Now is the time to protect Georgia's water The time for a comprehensive water plan is now. University Creates River Science Center The Center will conduct and synthesize scientific research to provide a foundation for sound public policies, and analyze policies relating to rivers and river basins to identify gaps in scientific knowledge and management approaches. It will inform policy makers about alternatives that support sound water resource management, and educate students in the science of riverine ecosystems and the role of public policy in protecting water resources. |
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