Auburn council hears water presentation

“There are potential reservoir sites all over Northeast Georgia,” Cole said, “but these projects are very expensive, so where do we go from here?”

Water resource management is best viewed as a state-wide issue, not a local one, he said, and, with Georgia’s current population of 10 million projected to increase by another 700,000-900,000 by 2015, it’s a challenge that’s “not going to go away.”

According to studies mandated by the state Water Supply Act of 2008, Fort Yargo Lake is last on the list of 16 Georgia reservoirs identified as being expandable.

But due to the high cost of building reservoirs and the difficulty in obtaining funding, especially for the initial planning and permitting phases of construction, Cole suggested that transferring water from one water basin to another (Inner Basin Transfers or IBTs) via tunnels or other mechanisms are an “ageold yet still very current” way to address water supply issues and should not be ruled out. Currently, 28 Georgia counties along the Chattahoochee River corridor use a “number of relatively small IBTs” to help meet water needs.

In contrast, Cole said the smallest expense in building or expanding a reservoir — planning and permitting — can indefinitely stall or shut a project down because “you have to fund these before you know you can even do the project.” Once those are complete, it is easier to secure funding for the rest of the project, which includes the higher priced items of mitigating environmental impacts, acquiring land, building a dam and the cost to treat and distribute the final product.

Mayor Linda Blechinger thanked Cole for the presentation. The council then went into a closed meeting to discuss potential property acquisition, emerged and adjourned without taking action.