Hunt is on for future of water
Area's needs will get third look

Aug 30, 2005
By AMY HORTON CARTER
The Brunswick News

Water is never far from sight or mind on the coast, but it's gotten even more attention than usual in Brunswick and the Golden Isles the past two weeks.

A state committee studying the problem of saltwater intrusion in a coastal aquifer held a three-day meeting on Jekyll Island last week. Formed by the General Assembly, the committee has spent the past seven years studying the problem of saltwater intrusion in the 24-county coastal region.

Its research winding down, the committee held a round of public meetings in late July to announce that saltwater does not pose an immediate threat to the coast's supply of fresh groundwater.

Later this week, Brunswick will be the venue for the third meeting of the state's newly formed Water Council, another legislative committee charged with developing a statewide water consumption plan that is due for completion July 1, 2007.

"Since they are a statewide organization, they've decided to be sure and schedule meetings all over the state, Brunswick being just one of the locations," said Kevin Chambers, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Chambers said the coast was a timely choice for the group with the results of the seven-year Sound Science Initiative having just recently been announced.

In addition to high profile surface water wars over the likes of the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers, Georgia is facing serious threats to the quality of the groundwater that quenches the growing thirst of its coast.

Deborah Sheppard, executive director of the Altamaha Riverkeeper, said public participation in the process is important to ensure the integrity of the coast's water supply.

"We all live downstream on the coast, and everything that goes on in the way of water use and water planning in the state of Georgia ultimately affects the coastal region. Our economy is extremely dependent on an adequate and safe supply of fresh water coming down the upstream rivers into the Atlantic region here," Sheppard said.

By virtue of its membership, the Water Council will carry a lot of weight in the decision making process.

Only one, Gus Bell, the president and CEO of Hussey Gay Bell & DeYoung, an engineering and architectural firm with an office in Savannah, has a direct link to the coast. That makes input from coastal residents all the more important, Sheppard said.

"We need to make sure the decision makers understand that coastal people are indeed interested in the state planning effort and we will insist that the decisions that are made for water use in Georgia allow the coastal region to get an adequate supply of water," she said.

Much of Southeast Georgia's water for household, agricultural and industrial uses is drawn from the Floridan aquifer, which has been partially contaminated by plumes of saltwater at Brunswick and near Savannah.

As part of the Sound Science Initiative organized to study the problem, the U.S. Geological Survey found that the threat of either plume spreading is very small. According to the survey, the plume beneath Brunswick is largely stabilized. Drawn from a deeper brackish aquifer by years of heavy industrial and municipal pumping, the plume has stopped spreading since industrial pumping has decreased and municipal wells have been relocated.

The EPD will use those results to draft a regional plan governing water use on the coast. That plan is due at the end of the year, and will be unveiled during public hearings. The 14-member Water Council is responsible for guiding EPD's efforts to draft a statewide water management plan, of which the coast will also be a part.