Water remedies sail through General Assembly

By Dan Chapman and Nancy Badertscher

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Sonny Perdue’s water wish list sailed smoothly through the General Assembly on Thursday with his prized conservation bill awaiting his signature.

The House overwhelmingly approved the Water Stewardship Act of 2010 to curtail outdoor watering and require builders and apartment building owners to more efficiently manage water.

The House passed a similar version of the bill last week but needed to revisit it because of slight differences with its Senate counterpart. Both bills must be in sync before the governor signs off.

“What we have done is put all egos aside and put together legislation that will be of benefit to our state for years to come,” said Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan), who chairs the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

The vote was 153-8 with little debate.

While the legislation mandates a so-called “culture of conservation” -- by allowing outdoor watering only between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., and requiring builders to use more efficient plumbing -- its not-so-hidden purpose is to influence Alabama, Florida and a federal judge. The new water rules, which include exceptions for farmers and nurseries, would mostly go into effect in July 2012.

Georgia and its neighbors are negotiating to resolve a 20-year water war over the Chattahoochee and Coosa rivers. Adding urgency to the talks, Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled last summer that Georgia has little legal right to the Chattahoochee-fed Lake Lanier, the main drinking source for metro Atlanta.

Magnuson has given the states until mid-2012 -- when SB 370 would kick into gear -- to resolve their water wars, or else he's likely to greatly restrict Georgia's access to Lanier, a federal reservoir.

Bert Brantley, Perdue’s spokesman, said Thursday the governor will sign the legislation, but no date has been set.

“This bill is a great step forward for Georgia’s stewardship of our limited natural resources,” he said. “While this bill is not part of any specific portion of the negotiations, it obviously shows that Georgia is serious about stewardship.”

The Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee also took action this week to resolve North Georgia’s water woes. It unanimously passed SB 442 on Wednesday requiring the state to study contingency plans in case the region faces a water emergency (i.e., Magnuson turns off Lanier’s spigots). By September 2011, the 15 counties in the Metro North Georgia Water Planning District must have a plan in place.

“We have to assume the possibility that we won’t have Lake Lanier or assume we will have some substantial reduction in water withdrawals from Lake Lanier,” said Sen. Dan Weber (R-Dunwoody), who introduced the bill.

Contingencies include the possible transfer of water between the water systems that serve 90 municipalities across North Georgia.

The state’s Environmental Protection Division already counts 10 interbasin transfers of at least 1 million gallons daily across the region. Another 15 water systems transfer less than 1 million gallons daily to other basins.

“It’s smart to have a Plan B ... so that we’re not caught off guard if we have reduced access to Lake Lanier,” said Juliet Cohen, general counsel for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. “But the bill still has problems.”

Cohen cited inflated 2035 population estimates, which could trigger the transfers, as one of the bill’s major flaws.