Georgia creates 10 new water councils

The governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker on Wednesday appointed 300 farmers, government officials, businessmen and others to 10 regional water councils that will decide how to divide rivers, lakes and underground aquifers.

Metro Atlanta was not included in the 10 councils. The Atlanta region already has a water planning district created by state law in 2001. The district, called the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, consists of local government representatives and citizen appointees. It has adopted water supply, wastewater and watershed management plans through 2030 and is updating them through 2035.

Each new council is comprised of 25 members, three alternates and an ex-officio member from the House and Senate. They will oversee long-term plans for developing new water supplies and sewage treatment facilities, and conservation.

Notable appointees include former five-term Democratic Congressman Lindsay Thomas of Screven and former state Rep. Richard Royal of Camilla.

Gov. Sonny Perdue, responsible for more than half the appointments, said in a statement that those chosen are “a diverse group of Georgians” who will “focus on water resource issues while also addressing the state’s economic needs.”

But leaders of the Georgia Water Coalition, a statewide group of environmental and civic organizations that advocates for clean water, immediately criticized the absence of environmentalists among the appointees.

Only one of the state’s eight Riverkeepers, Satilla Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers, was named to a council. Rogers will serve on the Suwanne-Satilla regional council in southeast Georgia.

Riverkeepers are part of a national network of river advocates, non-profit groups that advocate for environmental protections of the nation’s waterways.

For a list of the appointees, and a map of the water planning regions, go to http://www.georgiawaterplanning.org/.