Atlanta resists plans for extra reservoir

The city of Atlanta is fighting a bill that would allow three south Fulton cities to build a drinking water reservoir in the Chattahoochee River basin.

Two of those cities — Fairburn and Union City — buy water from Atlanta. If they build their own reservoir, they can wean themselves from city water.

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Rob Hunter, commissioner of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, said House Bill 406, which passed the House and the Senate Natural Resources Committee, will “throw the bond market into chaos.”

Hunter said Atlanta’s $4 billion water and sewer overhaul is partially dependent on revenues from the south Fulton cities. He also said the proposed Bear Creek Reservoir is not needed since Atlanta can meet south Fulton’s water demand through 2060.

The bill would allow any local government in Georgia to build a reservoir despite water service agreements, with federal and state permission.

Former Environmental Protection Division Director Harold Reheis, now a lobbyist promoting the bill for Palmetto, Fairburn and Union City, disputed Hunter’s objections.

He said Fairburn and Union City account for a fraction of 1 percent of Atlanta’s water and sewer revenues and should not affect Atlanta’s ability to borrow money.

Atlanta may not be able to deliver the water it plans to in the future, he said, due to drought and legal tangles with downstream states.

“I think it’s a good thing to build more reservoirs,” Reheis said.