Interbasin Transfers of Water

Four bills were introduced in the 2011 session aiming to regulate interbasin transfers of water (also known as IBTs). As in 2010, when there was unprecedented support for IBT bills in both the House and Senate, the chairs of the House and Senate Natural Resources Committees killed the popular bills by not bringing them up for a vote in their committees, presumably due to pressure from the metro Atlanta growth industry, which is opposed to regulating IBTs.

The Georgia Water Coalition was disappointed that these proposals didn't receive a fair hearing at the Capitol, and we will continue to push for meaningful, appropriate regulations of interbasin water transfers in Georgia.

Reservoir Funding

Senate Bill 122, which was passed by the General Assembly in the 2011 session, is bad policy for Georgia taxpayers and Georgia rivers. The GWC sought to defeat SB 122 on the House floor, but the bill passed by a very narrow margin. SB 122 will allow private developers to build subdivisions around new locally funded “water supply” reservoirs without adhering to rules intended to protect water quality in drinking water reservoirs. It allows developers to convey private property obtained by local governments through eminent domain, and then lets these private entities charge unrestricted “user fees” for water supplies. Finally, language in the bill could legalize the transfer of water from river basins outside metro Atlanta into the metro region as “treated wastewater” -- via private parties and state funding, potentially harming rivers, fish and wildlife, and downstream communities. Currently, water transfers into the metro Atlanta district are prohibited by state law.

Governor Deal announced plans early in the session to create a bond package to fund new water supply development. The Governor has proposed a total of $300 million in funding over 4 years; $46 million made it into the budget this year. The Georgia Water Coalition is advocating that funding should be available for all water supply projects, and should prioritize water conservation and efficiency -- the cheapest and fastest water supply solution.

At the beginning of the 2011 legislative session, Gov. Deal issued an Executive Order that orders the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) to develop and implement the “Governor’s Water Supply Program” to assist local governments in developing new sources of water supply. The order calls for GEFA to convene a “Water Supply Program Task Force” to provide “expert guidance” in program development and ensure interagency coordination. GEFA and the Task Force are to develop project financing options, explore opportunities for public-private partnerships, and develop a project selection system that “ensures alignment of state financial support for critical, cost effective water supply projects.” Learn more about the GWC’s work with the Task Force.

Finally, the budget also includes $2 million to study the feasibility and any impacts of raising the full pool level of Lake Lanier by 2 feet to meet multiple water needs. The GWC supports conducting studies on raising Lake Lanier’s pool level by 2 feet, which could generate over 25 billion gallons of additional storage that could be used for downstream flows, maintaining lake levels, and water supply, without constructing new reservoirs. Recently, both Gwinnett County and Forsyth County have passed resolutions supporting raising Lanier's full pool by 2 feet.

No Rollbacks!

HB 131. DEFEATED! GWC Partners were successful in defeating HB 131. This bill was intended to give the Georgia Department of Transportation and the paving contractors a pass on clean water law enforcement. After HB 131 was defeated, proponents of this rollback tried to amend HB 131 onto HB 137, and again this effort was defeated, thanks in large parts to the efforts of our GWC partners.

SB 110. DEFEATED! The bill would have allowed the expansion of landfills that have been permitted to be built over “significant groundwater recharge areas.” Thanks to tremendous grassroots efforts and the work of several GWC partners, this bill was tabled and not allowed to move this session.

SB 218. DEFEATED! This bill would have allowed people who want to mine submerged logs from river beds to set their own price via a sealed bid process rather than pay a fair price set by the state for the logs, which is the way the DNR Board previously determined the issue should be dealt with. This bill was defeated on the House floor thanks to the efforts of our GWC partners.