State senators approved a bill Friday designed to protect the aquifer that provides drinking water for areas of coastal Georgia.
Senate Bill 36 sponsored by Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, prevents the injection of ground water in the Floridan aquifer and calls on the state's Board of Natural Resources to adopt regulations by next summer to protect it.
In 1999, state lawmakers banned the practice of allowing chemically treated waste water, surface water or ground water to be being injected into an aquifer with the intent to withdraw it later. The ban on that practice, known as aquifer storage and recovery, expired last year.
An amendment to the bill, by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, limits the legislation to the Floridan aquifer without impacting those in other parts of the state.
The bill now moves to the House for consideration.
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