Water gaps and water quality: the Georgia Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meets 10-15 AM to 2 PM, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at Coastal Pines Technical College, 1701 Carswell Ave, Waycross, GA 31503. There is an online method of attendance, unfortunately via Microsoft Teams.

Unlike Florida’s Suwannee River Water Management District, SSRWPC has no paid staff, no budget to speak of, and no taxing, permitting, or fining ability. Its Council is all volunteers, assisted by a few staff from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) and sometimes a consultant or two.

Region, Public Notice

Public Notice 09MAR2022
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According to Georgia Water Planning,

The following counties are considered part of the Suwannee – Satilla Region:

• Atkinson
• Bacon
• Ben Hill
• Berrien
• Brantley
• Brooks
• Charlton
• Clinch
• Coffee
• Cook
• Echols
• Irwin
• Lanier
• Lowndes
• Pierce
• Tift

The SSRWPC region maps also include Turner County.

All of these counties except Bacon and Pierce are at least partly in the Suwannee River Basin; see WWALS counties and cities.

Region
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Some counties are at least partly in the Basin but not in SSRWPC. Colquitt, Thomas, and Worth are in the https://waterplanning.georgia.gov/water-planning-regions/lower-flint-ochlockonee-water-planning-region”>Lower Flint-Ochlockonee Region. Crisp and Dooly are in the Upper Flint Region. Wilcox is in the Altamaha Region.

Georgia Water Planning Regions
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According to the Suwannee-Satilla Council web page:

The members of the Suwanne-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council include:

Name	City	County
Joseph L. Boyett (Alternate)	Waycross	Ware
William L. Brim	Tifton	Tift
Carroll H. Coarsey	Brookfield	Tift
Ben Copeland	Lakeland	Lanier
Scott Downing, Chair	Fitzgerald	Ben Hill
Eugene Dyal	Alma	Bacon
Darvin Eason	Lenox	Cook
Michael E. Edgy	Waynesville	Brantley
Jim Hedges	Ashburn	Turner
Alva J. Hopkins	Folkston	Charlton
Donald A. Johnson (Alternate)	Nicholls	Coffee
John W. Langdale	Valdosta	Lowndes
Joe Lewis	Tifton	Tift
R.R. Rusty McCall	Valdosta	Lowndes
Donald H. McCallum	Wray	Irwin
Dan Raines	Ashburn	Turner
Scotty Raines	Sycamore	Turner
Frank G. Sisk (Alternate)	Blackshear	Pierce
Miles A. Stone	Fargo	Clinch
Grady M. Thompson, Vice Chair	Tifton	Tift
Doyle Weltzbarker	Quitman	Brooks
James R. Willis	Waycross	Ware
Jackie Wilson	Douglas	Coffee

Here is the SSRWPC Fact Sheet and their Full Report, updated in 2017.

Results
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About rivers in the SSRWP region and what the Council does, according to the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Plan web page:

The rivers in the region are unique in comparison to most of Georgia Rivers in that the watersheds are much smaller in size. This results in more frequent surface water lower flow conditions and increases the importance of groundwater to the region. Surface water is forecasted to meet about 18% of the region’s water use and agriculture accounts for 98% of this use. Groundwater is predominately used from the Floridan aquifer and is needed to meet about 82% of the region’s water needs. Agriculture, municipal, domestic, and industry are the major demand sectors for groundwater.

Water resource challenges in the region include surface water shortfalls during some periods of time on the Alapaha, Satilla, Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers; and water quality challenges associated with trophic-weighted residual mercury is fish tissue and low dissolved oxygen in some portions of the region.

Management practices are needed to address these challenges including: water conservation; refining planning information; use of existing or new storage to help reduce the frequency/severity of critical low flow conditions; sustainable use of groundwater during times of limited surface water flows; improving/upgrading wastewater treatment; and addressing non-point sources of pollution.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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