Aquifer storage meeting in Newton, GA 7 November 2013

It looks like SB 213 is being resurrected after falling in the Georgia House in March. This GEFA ASR meeting is in Newton, which is not far west of Tifton. When will they be coming for the waters of the Little River, too?

Jim West in the Albany Herald 29 March 2013, Flint River bill fails in the House, quoted Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper, and then referred to Georgia Water Coalition:

One aspect of the bill river advocates found objectionable was the concept of “stream flow augmentation,” including aquifer storage and recovery, or ASR, which Coalition officials define as “the injection of ground water into the aquifer, which would be extracted later and sent downstream.” According to the Coalition, the process could cause irreversible contamination of the aquifer.

GEFA News 30 October 2013, Aquifer Storage Project Public Meeting Scheduled,

The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority will hold a public meeting regarding the aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) demonstration project that will be developed on Elmodel Wildlife Management Area. The meeting will provide a project overview and allow local stakeholders to learn more about the project before the design work begins, as well as to ask questions.

The ASR demonstration project will test pumping water of drinking water quality from the Floridan aquifer during periods of high flows, storing it in deep aquifers (the Claiborne and Clayton aquifers), then withdrawing the stored water to supplement natural stream flows in times of drought or low flows. Georgia is undertaking this project to determine if the Claiborne and Clayton aquifers in southwest Georgia, when aided by the use of ASR technology, might be a reasonable and cost-effective option for supplementing stream flows during extended dry periods.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 6:30 p.m., at the Baker County High School. The high school is located in Newton GA on Highway 37 just west of the Flint River. Use the following coordinates in your GPS or internet mapping service to locate the school ( 31.311408, -84.344594). For more information, please email Matt Harper.

This PR was carried by yesterday by WALB and WTOC with a different contact:

For more information, media should contact Shane Hix at shane@gefa.ga.gov or 404-584.1000.

Garry Gentry spotted this story.

-jsq