How should the comprehensive statewide water management plan be created?
The comprehensive statewide water management plan should be created from the bottom up, starting with involvement at the local and regional levels within each river basin in Georgia. This will ensure a final water management plan that has the backing of local communities and citizens. The state would guide local planning efforts by creating overarching policies on water management (e.g. interbasin transfer policies, permitting criteria, instream flow requirements, etc.). These guidelines should provide some consistency for the regional planning processes across the state. However, the plan should not be created solely by EPD in Atlanta. Unfortunately, as of early 2005, the Governor and the General Assembly have not proposed sufficient funding to allow for local and regional planning. We encourage you to contact your elected officials to ask them to make sure that the plan is fully funded.
