TREATING GEORGIA'S ADDICTION TO WATER WITH GEOLOGY

The State of Georgia is experiencing major environmental policy stressors: explosive growth around Atlanta and on the coast, comprehensive statewide water planning, and a potentially devastating court decision that could shut off water supply from Lake Lanier, a USACE facility on the Chattahoochee River, for 3 million-plus residents of metro Atlanta. The growth and concomitant water demands led to legal challenges from adjoining states, which resulted in the court ruling denying Atlanta access to Lanier after 2012. However, the regional geology leaves Atlanta very few alternatives. Indeed, much of the on-going environmental public policy debates statewide have geologic sidewalls poorly understood by the general public; ignored by many in the business community; and downplayed by some policy makers. To address this state of affairs, the Georgia comprehensive statewide water plan is actively focused on educating the general public on water resource constraints, including developing aquifer safe-yield assessments in key areas. Ten councils of 25 lay citizens, appointed by elected officials, will be receiving these assessments, along with comprehensive information on other water issues in Georgia. Their final products, to be completed in 2011, will be ten regional water plans that must lay out a 50-year path to sustainable water use in cooperation with each region of the State. Ironically, key areas of conflict are likely to be between those communities, industries, and states using the same aquifer, rather than just Atlanta versus downstream users. Therefore, basic and complex geologic concepts must be presented in clear, understandable, and repeatable terms, and the presenters must be prepared to address those who mistrust the message as well as the messenger.