Bill Text: GA SR781 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Tennessee River Basin; urge the performance of a feasible study of withdrawal, storage, and distribution of waters
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-02 - Senate Read and Referred [SR781 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2011-SR781-Introduced.html
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Senate
Resolution 781
By:
Senators Mullis of the 53rd, Bethel of the 54th, Hill of the 32nd, Gooch of the
51st, Shafer of the 48th and others
A
RESOLUTION
Urging
the performance of a feasibility study of the withdrawal, storage, and
distribution of waters from a certain portion of the basin of the Tennessee
River; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
the need to develop alternative sources of water supply and storage for much of
Georgia is an issue of considerable urgency, particularly in light of a decision
by the United States District Court entered in 2009 which found that communities
in Georgia now dependent on the waters of Lake Lanier for water supply may no
longer depend on that supply after 2012, absent a settlement among the States of
Georgia, Alabama, and Florida; and
WHEREAS,
Lookout Creek in Dade County, Chattanooga Creek in Walker County, and West
Chickamauga and South Chickamauga Creeks in Catoosa County have, by some
estimates based on the last ten years of available data from the United States
Geological Survey and other sources, combined average flows of at least 725
million gallons per day, all of which flow northward into the Tennessee River;
and
WHEREAS,
there also exist abandoned rock quarries in north Georgia that can and do fill
with very large volumes of water, including one in Walker County that is
reported to have a water storage capacity of at least 3 billion gallons (9,207
acre-feet) of water; and
WHEREAS,
the right of way of a railroad, owned by the State of Georgia, passes through
the property on which the Walker County quarry described above is located and
runs southward to the vicinity of Rome; and
WHEREAS,
it may be possible to withdraw water from such north-flowing tributaries which
might otherwise go unused in this state, pump the water into such an abandoned
quarry for storage, and distribute water from such storage by means of a
pipeline to be laid on the railroad right of way and thence to areas of this
state in need of additional water supplies.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body urge the
Department of Natural Resources, the Water Supply Division of the Georgia
Environmental Finance Authority, and private enterprises to study the
feasibility of surface water withdrawal, storage, and distribution as described
in this resolution.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to transmit appropriate copies of this resolution to the commissioner of natural
resources and the director of the Water Supply Division of the Georgia
Environmental Finance Authority.
