Regional Water Planning

Georgia’s regional water planning process, authorized by legislation passed during the 2008 legislative session, is very near the close of its first planning phase. These regional plans will guide policy-making, decision-making and funding priorities in various ways for at least the next five years. According to Georgia EPD, after a water plan is adopted for a region, all EPD permits and Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) grants and loans for water projects will be guided by the plan.

After a two-year planning process, Georgia EPD released draft plans from each Regional Water Planning Council in May, 2011. The Georgia Water Coalition and many of its partner groups have submitted comments on these plans. To view the draft water plans, click here.

According to EPD’s water planning website, the Regional Water Planning Councils will (if needed) review and revise their initial draft recommended regional water plans based on the public review comments and on EPD comments. Then, the councils will each submit a final recommended regional water plan to EPD by September 30, 2011.

To read more about public comments and the remainder of this first round of the planning process, click here.

Our Position

The Georgia Water Coalition believes that effective water management requires the opportunity for citizens to participate in regional water planning that is:

(a) based on watersheds, river basins and aquifers,
(b) informed by the best available scientifically sound data,
(c) reliant on uniform, consistently applied and enforceable standards, and
(d) tied to implementation, including an adaptive management process.

The GWC's comments and on the water planning process and on the draft regional water plans are rooted in these principles.

You can learn more about Georgia's regional water councils and the statewide water planning process at www.georgiawaterplanning.org.