Georgia water task force suggests conservation

PDF: Water Contingency Final Report

A Georgia water planning group has issued its final report to the governor and the plan doesn't mention tapping the Tennessee River as an option.

The Georgia Water Contingency Task Force suggested the state conserve water immediately and, under one scenario, calls for enlarging four reservoirs and building a new lake in Paulding County.

"There's no single magic solution," task force co-chairman and Coca-Cola CEO John Brock said in a statement. "We must conserve more water, capture the water we do receive and control our water supplies through progressive water policies."

The task force is one component of a multi-agency state effort to solve Georgia's water woes.

The panel of 80 business and civic leaders, primarily from the Atlanta area, divided solutions into three tiers based on when they could be accomplished: 2012, 2015 or 2020.

Under the 2012 deadline imposed by a federal judge's ruling that could wean Atlanta off Lake Lanier, the task force suggested offering conservation incentives such as rebates for efficient toilets, along with water restrictions in some areas.

A longer-term solution would find enough water to get the metro area off Lanier by 2015, but involves a relatively expensive process of pumping treated wastewater back upstream to be reused.

The report calls the 2020 project more cost-effective, including more conservation, building a new reservoir on Richland Creek near the Paulding-Bartow county line and expanding reservoirs at Tussahaw Creek, Dog River, Big Haynes Creek and at Etowah River Dam No. 1.

Meanwhile, the report warns that metro Atlanta residents should keep hope that the judge's ruling is overturned and that the state's appeal is heard.

"The Task Force does not foresee the ability of the metro region to meet the potential water shortfall in 2012 ... even with extremely aggressive mandated conservation," the report states.