Georgia's water plan has broad implications

By S. Heather Duncan - hduncan@macon.com

Some homeowners could pay higher rates for watering their big, green lawns. Cities and factories could pay each other for the right to dump more wastewater into one stretch of river. The state could ban building new reservoirs for generating electricity or tourism.

These are all possibilities suggested in the state water plan unveiled earlier this year by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The agency wrote the plan on behalf of the Georgia Water Council, and it expects to release a second draft Thursday.

In a broad sense, the water plan will affect everything from which Georgia cities grow to which species survive in state rivers.

When the water planning process started two years ago, the state was emerging from a drought that had heightened public awareness of the power of water. After a few wetter years and a temporary lull in regional "water wars," this year a Florida lawsuit heated up tensions and a new drought heated up Georgia - bringing greater urgency to the water planning effort.

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