Newspaper Page Text
Water Coalition defends
environment at State Capitol
Photo courtesy ErikVoss
Georgia Water Coalition members wait in line to talk to their state legislators.
“Cast your bucket where you are,” said the celebrated orator
Booker T. Washington more than one hundred years ago.
In my career, I’ve tried to do this — to make the most of the
situation where I have found myself — by focusing on environmental
issues in my hometown, in my state.
Despite the alarming actions being taken in our nation’s capital
that could destroy environmental progress achieved in the past 40
years, I take some comfort in work being done here at home. A good
example is the Georgia Water Coalition, which cast its bucket at the
State Capitol 15 years ago.
In a move unusual for that time, four environmental organizations
and a foundation developed a collaborative agenda and shared financial
resources. Importantly, they learned how to work with different
organizational styles and cultures to achieve common goals.
Today, the Water Coalition is made up of more than 230
groups including garden clubs, homeowner and lake associations,
rural residents, business owners, sportsmen’s clubs, conservation
organizations, professional associations and religious groups.
The Water Coalition’s bipartisan work is galvanized around a
defining principle: the surface waters and groundwater of Georgia are
public resources to be managed by the state in the public interest and
in a sustainable manner to protect natural systems, meet human and
economic needs and account for the effects of climate change.
Over the past 15 years, the Water Coalition has won significant
victories, while building credibility and solidarity among participating
organizations. During the current legislative session, its priorities
are coal ash, buffers along waterways and stopping rollbacks of
environmental protections.
Fortified by breakfast and plenty of coffee, a hundred members
of the Water Coalition gathered in a church hall near the Capitol on
a rainy morning in mid-February to review legislative strategies and
targeted bills. Then, they marched across the street and joined 40 more
colleagues who arrived by bus from the coast; the citizen lobbyists
talked to legislators about its priorities.
Coal ash — a toxic byproduct of coal-fired power generation —
requires proper disposal so that it does not contaminate our waterways.
The Water Coalition’s legislative solutions include community notification, prohibition of
storage near drinking water sources and treatment of contaminated water prior to discharge into
rivers. Legislative prediction: hopeful, but uncertain.
The Water Coalition has long worked to protect vegetated buffers adjacent to rivers, streams
and lakes to naturally filter pollutants. This year’s legislative goal: agreement on a clear method
to measure buffers for regulatory purposes. Legislative prediction: the matter will be put in a
study committee where it may die.
A rollback bill proposed by Sen. Frank Ginn would prohibit local governments from
charging a stormwater collection and disposal fee, as some now do, for properties that use the
government’s stormwater system to transport water offsite. Not only are these fees an excellent
revenue source to address flooding and storm-related pollution, the state should not limit local
options, according to the Water Coalition and allies. Legislative prediction: The proposal is on
its way to a study committee, this time for a welcome burial.
Money is always a major topic during the 40-day legislative session. This year, Gov. Deal’s
proposed budget for Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division is meager, as usual, which
will continue the downward spiral in the agency’s ability to carry out its responsibilities.
As the new head of the U.S. EPA threatens to dismantle his federal agency, there will be
more pressure on state agencies to protect our water, air and land. With limited state funds and
diminishing political will to handle additional responsibilities, the Water Coalition and similar
alliances will become increasingly essential to defend our natural resources.
Get involved! For more information, see garivers.org/gawater/index.html. [d
ABOVE
THE
WATER
LINE
By Sally Bethea
Sally Bethea is the
retired executive
director of Chat
tahoochee Riverkeeper
(chattahoochee. org),
a nonprofit environ
mental organization
whose mission is to
protect and restore the
drinking water supply
for nearly four million
people.
Dorsey Alston
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