Middle Georgia rivers may be new water source for Atlanta

By S. HEATHER DUNCAN | Macon Telegraph
December 7, 2009

Of the three rivers that begin in Atlanta, only one stays in Georgia and isn’t a major water source for the capital.

That could be about to change.

“So there’s nobody but the people of Georgia to say, ‘No, it’s not OK to do that. We need this water for our economic growth,’ ’’ she said.

The task force conducted a breakneck cost-benefit analysis of potential conservation measures, reservoirs, a desalinization plant and transferring water from existing north Georgia reservoirs, as well as pumping groundwater from Middle Georgia.

Many of these alternatives require bringing water into Atlanta from outside its water planning district, which is currently illegal, Perdue press secretary Bert Brantley noted.

“Some of it’s pie-in-the-sky, not practical,” said Richardson, a retired engineer who is also chairman of the Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Planning Council. “Some of it’s just way too costly.”

As a result, the task force concluded that it’s impossible to make up the Lanier deficit in three years.

“The thing about the contingency plan is it doesn’t work,” said Macon Water Authority Director Tony Rojas. “You can’t build reservoirs fast enough.”

But the task force analysis showed Atlanta could find alternatives — at a cost between $2 billion and $3 billion — by 2015 to 2020.

Ocmulgee River proposals
The task force considered expanding two reservoirs in the Ocmulgee watershed, at Tussahaw Creek dam in Henry County and Big Haynes Creek in Rockdale County. (The Tussahaw Creek project appeared to be one of the more cost-efficient reservoir options.)

Other possibilities include adding a reservoir on Bear Creek in Newton County and in the Oconee River watershed in Walton County.

If all four of these projects were chosen from among dozens of other alternatives, together they would produce 125 million gallons of additional water a day.

A section of the task force presentation shows Jackson Lake, the Georgia Power reservoir on the Ocmulgee, as a potential water source for Gwinnett County. Because Gwinnett has a sewage treatment plant upstream on the Yellow River, this would technically be a “re-use” of Gwinnett’s treated waste water.

Jane Lofton, president of the Jackson Lake Homeowners Association, said members haven’t expressed concern about these proposals, but the group will be watching what happens.
Jackson is one of several Georgia Power lakes identified by the task force as possible water sources. Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson would not say whether the company would consider such uses, but he said the lakes store little more water than is needed to make electricity.

Georgia Power refused a proposal by Jasper County to use Jackson Lake as a water source in 2004, correspondence from the time shows. A letter from the company in response to a local request states, “It is clear that Jackson Lake is not a replacement source of water for municipal purposes and additional storage in the region is needed.”

Rojas said the Macon Water Authority is concerned about whether new upstream reservoirs or withdrawals would reduce the amount of water available for the Javors Lucas Lake, which stores Macon’s drinking water.

Plus, the authority wants to protect its growth potential. Rojas said there is room for the lake to be raised by 11 feet, an option the authority doesn’t want to lose.

South Georgia groundwater
One of the most expensive options the task force considered was pumping groundwater from south of Macon. Brantley noted that heavy infrastructure projects such as pipelines didn’t measure up well on the cost-benefit analysis.

Using south Georgia groundwater would cost about $1,600 per million gallons of water, but could potentially produce 200 million gallons a day in eight to 10 years, according to the task force. About the same cost would yield only 26 million gallons a day from groundwater sources closer to Atlanta.

John Huffmaster, legislative director for the Georgia Farm Bureau, said his organization has met with officials from Perdue’s office to argue against using south Georgia groundwater.

“When you start having a huge interbasin transfer of water, that water is no longer available for people trying to make a living down there,” Huffmaster said. “It would have a very detrimental effect on farmers,” who rely on groundwater for irrigation.

Environmental concerns
The task force is taking comments on its findings and will make final recommendations before the state Legislature convenes in January.

Environmental groups have criticized the early results. Ingle said she believes the task force underestimated, by at least 100 million gallons a day, the amount of water that could be saved through conservation. She argues that aggressive conservation will put the state in a better position to bargain for Lake Lanier’s water.

Ingle added that the reservoirs and pipelines would be shockingly expensive to taxpayers already suffering during a recession.

“Communities downstream are going to pay in two ways: lost water and higher taxes,” she said.
James Holland, the Altamaha Riverkeeper, said new reservoirs in the Ocmulgee and Oconee could harm coastal fisheries hundreds of miles away.

“They say everything is on the table, but limiting development is not on the table,” Holland said. “We just want Atlanta to start trying to learn to live within its means.”

To contact writer S. Heather Duncan, call 744-4225.