By Jon Gillooly
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA - State Rep. Rob Teilhet, a Smyrna Democrat, is dismayed by the Water Conservation and Drought Relief Act approved by the General Assembly on Friday.
"I think the proper term for the bill is 'window dressing,'" said Teilhet, remarking on Senate Bill 342.
State Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), a defender of the bill, said it would provide the framework to spend a significant amount of state money on new reservoirs and streamline the permitting process.
"It will allow us to store the water we have and alleviate further future drought-related measures imposed by government," Ehrhart said.
The bill would allow for the state to fund reservoirs through its general fund, which is different than how reservoirs are often funded in the past at the local level through bonds, said Betsy Nicholas, general counsel for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper organization, a nonprofit Atlanta-based river advocacy group.
The General Assembly earmarked $70 million in the fiscal year 2009 budget for reservoir building, she said.
The legislation also sets up a new office within the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority charged with taking inventory of potential reservoir sites in Georgia no later than Oct. 1.
Teilhet said the bill creates "an unnecessary new state bureaucracy."
"This new agency is not within the (Georgia Environmental Protection Division), where all other water decisions are made, and is not bound by or part of the statewide water management plan, meaning it's more likely to be guided by politics than science or stewardship principles," Teilhet said.
How the new agency goes about selecting new reservoir sites is also a concern for Nicholas.
"I think there is the potential for a lot of problems coming from this bill," she said.
Nicholas said while her group is not completely opposed to the bill, she is disappointed that it did not provide for protections against such things as inter-basin transfers.
Reservoirs are challenging to build because of the lengthy federal permitting process and the price tag, which can soar into the hundreds of millions.
"This bill does nothing to help with either issue," Teilhet said.
Responding to Teilhet's dismissal, Ehrhart said, "I think the proper term for Teilhet's comment is: no interest in solving the problem."
"I don't think the Left wants to see an end to drought or water independence. If that happens, then the government no longer controls peoples' lives and lifestyle," Ehrhart said.
Cobb Board of Commissioners Chairman Sam Olens, who serves on the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, appeared underwhelmed by the legislation.
"It's more than window dressing but less than needed. Following last year's excessive drought, a giant opportunity to improve our state's water resources was missed. Passage of the state water plan was essential, but we can accomplish so much more," Olens said, citing the need for water efficient washing machines, dish washers and toilets for commercial and residential use, efficiency upgrades and incentives to reuse water.
Nicholas agreed with Olens that the bill does not do enough.
"More reservoirs are not the answer to the water problems in Georgia. They may be part of the solution, but they are not the solution in themselves," she said.
Nicholas said the legislation is not retroactive, so it will not help finance the joint Cobb-Canton Hickory Log Creek Reservoir project under construction.
That reservoir is currently able to retain rainwater, but is designed to have water pumped in from the Etowah River, Water Authority General Manager Glenn Page said. Pumping is expected to begin late this year with the reservoir expected to fill up by late 2009, Page said.
The Water Authority also owns about 1,200 acres in the Sharp Mountain Creek area in north Cherokee County, property the authority began buying in the early 1990s. However, a reservoir in northern Cherokee is unlikely to happen until national priorities change, Page said, because since the authority came to acquire the property, a fish known as the Cherokee Darter was placed on the Endangered Species list.
Eight of Cobb's 14 state representatives voted for SB 342, among them Sharon Cooper (R-east Cobb), Matt Dollar (R-east Cobb), Rich Golick (R-Smyrna), Steve "Thunder" Tumlin (R-Marietta), Terry Johnson (D-Marietta), Judy Manning (R-Marietta), Don Parsons (R-east Cobb), and Ed Setzler (R-Acworth).
Cobb representatives voting against the bill were Teilhet, Bobby Franklin (R-east Cobb), Sheila Jones (D-South Cobb), Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell), and Don Wix (D-Mableton).
Four of Cobb's five state senators voted for the bill, among them Judson Hill (R-east Cobb), Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), Steve Thompson (D-Powder Springs) and John Wiles (R-Kennesaw).
State Sen. Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna) did not vote.
jgillooly@mdjonline.com
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Posted Comments
If you have ever had the misfortune to have personal dealing with the Cobb County Water folks you will understand what I am about to say. This looks like another opportunity for the Cobb County Water Authority to charge the citizens of Cobb County more for water. Their sole purpose making money. This is another opportunity to hide funds and give a job to another family member somewhere in the agency.