Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

All three of St. Marys, Satilla, and Suwannee Riverkeeper will be at the May 5, 2026, meeting of Georgia’s Suwannee Satilla Regional Water Planning Council (SSRWPC), 10 AM-2:30 PM at Okefenokee Swamp Park.

Datacenters are on the agenda as a Discussion item. It’s not clear whether participants other than the Council will be allowed to discuss. But they will notice anybody who shows up. And there is Public Comment near the end.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

SSRWPC includes part of the St. Marys River Basin, as well as the Satilla and Suwannee Basins, including of course the Alapaha, Willacoochee, Withlacoochee, Little, and New Rivers, with much concern about groundwater including the Floridan Aquifer.

According to their WATER & WASTEWATER FORECASTING TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM of March 2024, population growth projections have been decreased, causing water use and wastewater use also to be less.

Datacenters could reverse that trend.

FYI, Mark Masters is Executive Director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center (GWPPC) at Albany State University and Laura Rack also works there “in a joint role with the River Basin Center at the University of Georgia.”

Caitlin Sweeney is listed by the Jones Center at Ichauway, also in the Flint River Basin, although the agenda says she is with GWPPC.

Here is the agenda:

Agenda
Georgia Suwannee-Satilla
Water Council Meeting
May 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Okefenokee Swamp Park — Waycross, GA
Objectives:

Hear a report from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division
Review the draft implementation assessment report
Hear a report on seed grant activities from the St. Mary’s Riverkeeper
Discuss data center development in the Council region
Discuss plan update priorities

10:00 Welcome, Introductions, Meeting Overview, Planning Contractor Updates — Mark Masters, GWPPC
10:10 Chairman’s Comments — Scott Downing
10:20 Georgia Environmental Protection Division Update — Russell Nix, GAEPD
10:30 Seed Grant Update from St. Mary’s Riverkeeper — Emily Floore and Alec Jarobe
Building a Watershed Resilience Plan for the St. Marys River and its Community
11:00 Implementation Assessment — Laura Rack and Caitlin Sweeney, GWPPC
11:15 Data Centers Discussion
11:45 Planning Priorities (Part 1) —- Laura Rack and Caitlin Sweeney
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Planning Priorities (Part 2) — Laura Rack and Caitlin Sweeney
2:00 Public Comment
2:15 Next Steps and Adjourn — Mark Masters
www.georgiawaterplanning.org

Agenda, 2026-05-06 -Suwannee-Satilla Water Planning Council
PDF

Council Meeting Public Notice, 2026-05-06 –Georgia Water Planning
PDF

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Figure 1-1 Georgia’s Historic Population and Growth Projections, 2024-03-01 –CDM for SSRWPC
PDF