ABOVE THE WATER LINE

By Sally Bethea Sally Bethea is the retired executive director of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and current board president of Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy whose mission is to build a community of support for the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

The Georgia Water Coalition has chosen three priority issues for the 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly. Representing more than 250,000 Georgians, this coalition has secured a number of major successes, since its establishment sixteen years ago.

Trust Fund Honesty: Under the Georgia Constitution, legislators can adopt laws that establish fees to fund state programs; the Solid and Hazardous Waste Funds were created in the early 1990s to clean up hazardous sites and illegal tire dumps. Since that time, more than $200 million in fees have been diverted to pay for general budget expenses. The remedy is a Constitutional amendment that gives legislators the authority to transparently dedicate fee revenues, while providing them flexibility in the event of an economic downturn. As a member of the Georgia House, our new lieutenant governor co-sponsored the amendment bill last year; however, it did not pass because Casey Cagle did not allow it to come to the Senate floor for a vote. Advocates believe that there’s a real chance for this measure to pass this year.

Coal Ash Pollution: While Georgia Power is closing old, unlined coal ash storage ponds, proven to contaminate surface and groundwater, a new loophole in Georgia law may alter this positive direction. Beginning in July, local governments will charge landfill operators $2.50 (as a “host-fee” for allowing the landfill within their boundaries) for every ton of household garbage collected, but only $1 per ton for coal ash – an incentive for power utilities to dispose their coal ash in municipal landfills. Worse, this loophole means that Georgia will be more attractive as a dumping ground for out-ofstate coal ash. Legislators must close this loophole during the 2019 session; they may be helped by Gov. Kemp who has said that he doesn’t want our state to “become a dumping ground for coal ash.”

Stream Buffer Protection: Scientific studies have concluded that natural, vegetated buffers along waterways can serve multiple economic benefits – from water quality and wildlife habitat to flood attenuation. Whatever the width of the buffer, the point at which the measurement is taken is critical. Current state law is not clear on this matter for all types of waterways. Legislators must clarify the language using a more suitable marker, such as the “ordinary high water mark” or “the bank of the stream”. This would help ensure protection from soil erosion and loss of tree shade for the rivers, lakes and creeks that provide our drinking water and much more.

Learn more about these issues at garivers.org. To find your legislators and contact them, see: openstates.org/find_your_legislator.