By Brandon Beach

In a previous Jobs Man column, I wrote of the importance of getting back to basics on four issues that would lead to the retention and the recruitment of new jobs.  I called it WETT: Water, Education, Transportation and Taxes.

For the next four weeks, I’ll thoroughly examine each issue, starting today with water.

GEORGIA IS THE RAIN STATE

With the exception of the now historic 2008 Georgia drought, the state of Georgia has received more rainfall than Seattle over last quarter century. 

Truth be told, Georgia enjoys more than an adequate supply of water to meet the needs of our citizens and to grow the state’s economy. Our problem is mismanagement of the resources we have. We have two stark choices: leave our water fate up to a judge’s ruling, or take the bull by the horns and solve the dilemma ourselves. I prefer the latter. I don’t feel comfortable with a judge making our decision for us; the odds do not stack up in our favor.

We are currently in negotiations with Alabama and Florida over who has the rights to the water supply in Lake Lanier. Make no mistake about it: this is an economic development issue as much is it about the need for water. Alabama and Florida both know if our water spigot is turned off, so is job growth in Georgia. That means they get the lion’s share of business growth, not us. That means they grow jobs, and we don’t.

To be proactive, we must conserve and capture our plentiful water in a more efficient manner.

CONSERVE

The Atlanta Regional Commission states that over 45 percent of our water infrastructure in Metro Atlanta is leaking. We must have a program and plan to fix this aging infrastructure. We must also look at ways to continue to conserve through better technology.

CAPTURE

The state has had a plan to build 14 new reservoirs throughout the state. That is a great idea. However we are under a judge’s order to negotiate a deal with Alabama and Florida in the next two years and a permit for a new reservoir takes 10 years. I believe we should ask the judge for a two-year extension and present a plan that would include underground storage. Twenty-three states are currently storing water underground. We are fortunate to have the geological setting with limestone that will allow us to utilize underground storage. The positives for underground storage are twofold: the water does not evaporate underground and you do not need a “404” permit, so you eliminate the 10-year wait process. We can finance these underground storage facilities through the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority. We should simultaneously continue the process of adding more reservoirs while we immediately pursue underground storage.

We have been fortunate of late to receive a lot of rainfall and when we wake up in the morning and turn on the shower we have water, so we have a tendency to think we no longer have a water issue. But all of that could change with a ruling from a judge. I do not want to wait on a judge’s decision, we need to act know on a short-term solution and have a long-term water plan in place. Water is an essential resource for our continued growth and success.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please e-mail me at brandonlbeach@aol.com.

Paid for By Brandon Beach For Senate