2006 Preserving the American Dream Conference

Today’s Discussion

 Georgia’s Water Issues  Catalyst for Action  The State’s Response  Possible Outcomes

Burgeoning Population Growth Heavily Irrigated Three “Hot Spots” for Water Problems in the State Salt water intrusion

It Happened Quickly

 Georgia’s Population in 1960-

3,943,116

 Number of Agricultural Irrigation Systems in 1960-0  Georgia’s Population in 2003-

8,684,715

 Number of Agricultural Irrigation Systems Today-21,000 plus

Source: US Census Bureau

Where the People Are

6.8 million 1.9

million

Where the Water Is

SOME surface water LITTLE groundwater MORE surface water MUCH groundwater

Water Users and Water

Municipal & Industrial Surface Water Withdrawals Municipal & Industrial Groundwater Withdrawals 1.9 M people 1.94 M acres irrigated MORE surface water MUCH groundwater 6.8 M people 0.06 M acres irrigated SOME surface water LITTLE groundwater

Agricultural Water Permits

Saltwater Intrusion

Unlike the population growth of Atlanta and the widespread adoption of irrigation that occurred in a relatively short period of time it was decades of extremely heavy pumping from the Upper Floridan aquifer at Savannah that created this problem.

The Catalyst

Atlanta Metropolitan Area Residents

1980: 2,233,000 1990: 2,959,500 2000: 4,112,198 2005: estimate 4,917,717

ACT/ACF RIVER BASINS # Huntsville

A L A B A M A

Coosa

Etowah River

Rome Atlanta # Birmingham Gainesville Athens Augusta

ACT

Tallapoosa # Montgomery Alabama

ACF

Columbus Chattahoochee Macon

G E O R G I A

Savannah # Dothan Flint Albany Valdosta Apalachicola

F L O R I D A

1998 - 2002

The State’s Response

WATER POLICY ACTION

 Statewide Planning Underway, Plan due July 2007  Metering of all Agricultural Withdrawals  Flint River Basin Regional Water Development & Conservation Plan (242 pages)  Coastal Georgia Water & Wastewater Permitting Plan for Managing Salt Water Intrusion (54 pages)

"Georgia manages water resources in a sustainable manner to support the state’s economy, to protect public health and natural systems, and to enhance the quality of life for all citizens."

Policy statement from the Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Planning Act signed by Governor Sonny Perdue on May 13, 2004.



Minimize Withdrawals

of water by increasing conservation, reuse, and efficiency 

Maximize Returns to River Basins

through managing interbasin transfers and uses of on-site sewage disposal systems, and land application of treated wastewater where water quantity is limited; 

In Stream/Off Stream Needs

for water through surface storage, aquifer management and reducing water demands; and 

Protect Water Quality

by reducing discharges of pollutants to streams and runoff from land, so as not to exceed the assimilative capacity of the streams

Possible Outcomes

Everyone is happy.

or Everyone isn’t.*

*The odds are with the latter.

In terms of access to water Georgia has never really said NO! But it is clear that the supply isn’t infinite and any reasonable plan will take that fact into account so demand will have to be curtailed. This will create problems and litigation which will be messy. For instance…….

Confusion in the Law

 §12-5-31(k) (7), which provides that “The director may suspend or modify a farm use permit if he should determine through inspection, investigation, or otherwise that the quantity of water allowed under the permit would prevent other applicants from reasonable use of surface waters for farm use.” But farm permits are NOT quantified and the law states that the permit (ag) SHALL be issued.

And what about….

Under conditions where “new” users cannot acquire access to water supplies, how does:

•

A region’s economy grow?

•

A region take advantage of new economic development opportunities?

•

A region avoid conditions leading to a stagnant economy?

Is there anything we can do?

 Get involved  Support maximum utilization of available resources  Support investment in supply augmentation  Support decentralized management  Protect riparian rights

Annual rainfall in Georgia is ≈ 50 trillion gallons .

Demand minus thermoelectric is ≈ 1.2 trillion gallons.

Total (surface & ground) water demand is ≈ 2.5 trillion gallons.

AQUIFER STORAGE & RECOVERY

PERMIT TRADING

Summary

 Georgia has some water issues  Rapid growth of population and irrigation are in large part responsible  The State response is to plan  Confusing laws will lead to litigation over implementation of any plan  We have enough supply if we invest in utilizing it  Thus far we have chosen reducing demand over augmenting supply

Just a pretty photo.