Charlie Bethel

CALHOUN, Ga. — Members of the Northwest Georgia Regional Water Resources Partnership say it has a unique role — to conduct studies and help implement needed changes where water’s concerned.

The partnership is different from the state’s 10 regional water planning councils, which were mandated in 2008 and will develop long-term plans and policies for water management, Chairman Jerry Jennings said. The voluntary partnership is task-oriented and works on the ground to address numerous water issues, he said.

“The partnership is out in the field doing the grunt work,” said Mr. Jennings. “I think we complement one another.”

Members of the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission — a planning organization representing 15 counties — agreed to endorse the water partnership at their Thursday meeting.

The endorsement enables the partnership to seek federal appropriation for water quality and ecosystem restoration projects in the 2011 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers budget.

Mr. Jennings said the group hopes initially to receive about $500,000 to complete a watershed protection and implementation plan. Partnership members then will seek funding to put the plan into action through efforts such as stream and bank restoration, he said.

“We’ve got a study of the biological water quality,” Mr. Jennings said. “The next phase is to determine what kinds of improvements need to be made and what actions need to take place on rivers and streams to make those improvements.”

Since its inception in 2002, the partnership has completed other research work, including a plan for where new reservoirs could be located throughout the region.

“We’re just ahead of the curve because we’re already doing what ultimately water councils are going to tell needs to be done,” said Mr. Jennings.

Don Schreiber, with the watershed protection branch of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, said “these partnerships, working with the water council, are going to provide a lot of information that’s going to develop these mandatory (water) plans.”

Charlie Bethel, Dalton’s representative on the regional commission and a member of the Coosa-North Georgia Water Planning Council, described the council as the “thinkers and planners” and the partnership as the “doers.”

“I think they are part of the entire picture of: How do we manage our water resources?” he said.

NORTHWEST GEORGIA REGIONAL WATER RESOURCES PARTNERSHIP

* Comprised of water withdrawal permit holders, local governments, other advocacy entities

* Voluntary, members join by choice and pay dues (not all 15 counties in the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission are members, but can benefit from the group’s research)

* Largely self-funded

* River basin centered; geographic boundaries nearly coincide with the Coosa Basin and Tennessee Basin

Source: Northwest Georgia Regional Water Resources Partnership