Ruling on power plant narrows definition of interbasin transfers Read more: RN-T.com - Ruling on power plant narrows definition of interbasin transfers

July 26, 2010
by Rob Pavey and Walter Jones| Rome News-Tribune

ATLANTA ---A stricter interpretation of Georgia’s rules for interbasin water transfers that emerged in a 2008 Statewide Water Plan supersedes earlier state laws, according to an administrative law judge who ruled in favor of groups challenging water permits for a proposed coal-fired power plant in Washington County.

Judge Ronit Walker said Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division failed to follow proper procedure for interbasin transfers in approving a permit allowing Power4Georgians to withdraw 13.5 million gallons per day from the Oconee River for use at the proposed plant, located in the Ogeechee River watershed, and return just 11 percent, or 1.5 million gallons per day of that water to the Oconee.

Developers contended the plan to pipe water 30 miles into a different river basin did not meet Georgia’s definition of an interbasin transfer because some of the water was being returned to its basin of origin. The existing law, they said, defines such a transfer as “a withdrawal in which water is returned to a different basin than that from which it is withdrawn.”

Complying with the ruling won’t be hard, according to Power4Georgians spokesman Dean Alford.

“It’s not a big deal at all. It’s more procedural,” he said, estimating it would merely delay construction several months.

The EPD did not react Monday. It only got a copy of the 29-page ruling Monday and had not had time to digest it or comment, according to agency spokesman Kevin Chambers.

Opponents had appealed the state’s approval of the water permit, contending Georgia’s Statewide Water Management Plan adopted in 2008 more narrowly defines interbasin transfers as any “withdrawal and transfer of surface waters across natural basins.”

The ruling in favor of the environmental groups means plant developers will now have to go through a more rigorous process of applying for an interbasin transfer permit.

More importantly, according to Justine Thompson, executive director of GreenLaw, it helps close a potential loophole that could be exploited by anyone willing to pump water long distances and then pump some of it all the way back after using it.

“What they were doing is really a way around having to deal with the interbasin transfer issue,” she said. “This ruling is a significant decision that goes beyond coal plants and it has a lot to do with water policy.”

Interbasin transfers have become more of a statewide issue since a committee appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue to study ways to supplement metro Atlanta’s water supply evaluated options that included moving water from the Savannah River Basin to Gwinnett County. That option ultimately was not recommended as viable due to expense and the potential for “contentious stakeholder sensitivity.”

In the challenges to the state water permits, GreenLaw and the Southern Environmental Law Center are representing the Altamaha Riverkeeper, the Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment, and Sierra Club’s Georgia Chapter.

Court Rules Plant Washington Water Permits are Invalid

Coal plant permits improper

Ruling clamps interbasin flow