– September 18, 2024 –
Good morning! We have two water stories for you today. One about state lawmakers studying private water systems and one looking at how much cash it’ll take to keep the nation’s water clean, both in our waterways and in our pipes. To wrap up, we also have a story about a controversial boost for Georgia forestry from an unexpected source.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Legislators examine private water
Georgia lawmakers passed House Bill 1146 earlier this year to allow private utilities to provide water without an OK from the local government in areas where no public service can be provided within 18 months.
The bill was spurred by rapid growth around the massive Hyundai plant in Bryan County and water withdrawal restrictions there that make getting water to new homes difficult. It also came as environmental groups are encouraging local governments to work together on water supply and wastewater treatment.
Now a legislative study committee is taking a look at private water systems to learn how many private water companies exist across Georgia and what rules they follow. Capitol Beat’s Dave Williams has the story.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
The cost of water infrastructure
Speaking of water, studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show a huge effort and a lot of cash will be needed to keep our water clean in the coming decades. The total estimated cost of needed capital investments in water supply infrastructure as well as wastewater and stormwater management systems nationwide: over $1 trillion. And Georgia is among the neediest states with about $26 billion needed over the next two decades to meet water quality regulations and address water quality issues that affect public health, as Pew reports.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Biomass decision
The Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates rates at Georgia Power, on Tuesday approved the company’s increased use of biomass. (You can see the 4-1 vote here.) The pro-biomass commissioners said they favored the practice not to control prices for consumers — biomass is expensive — but to prop up forestry jobs in the state. Individual ratepayers and representatives of environmental groups spoke out against burning wood for energy, calling the practice too expensive and too polluting, as Emily Jones of Grist/WABE reports.
Just one thing
This week’s tip for for personal environmental action comes from Kathryn W. Kemp, a retired history professor who also happens to be the mother of our Liberty County Reporter Robin Kemp.
“Uneaten food, except meat, can be composted and used to improve your garden soil,” she emailed. “I also (mostly for the fun of it) keep a worm farm, which makes lovely dirt for the plants. If I don’t get some item eaten, my garden has it, and even the bits I can’t eat, like apple cores, goes into the process.
“I try not to over-buy, but composting helps take away anxiety about wasting food.”
Send “just one thing” you do as part of your personal environmental action plan to mary.landers@thecurrentga.org. We’ll publish our favorites and credit the contributor. Thanks!
Also noted
- The number of electric vehicles in Georgia recently surpassed 100,000. While most of those are in the Atlanta area, Chatham County is the 7th ranked county for EV registration, with more than 2,400 EVs, the Savannah Morning News reports.
- Reminder #1: Cumberland Island National Seashore staff will give a presentation about its proposed land swaps and take questions at a virtual public meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19. Instructions to join via computer or telephone are here. NPS is also inviting public comment via a form online or via mail through Oct. 6.
- Reminder #2: The South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative will hold a workshop from 4-6 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens and Historic Bamboo Farm, 2 Canebrake Road, Savannah. SASMI collaborators will discuss marsh migration and climate-related impacts.
- Coastal Wildscapes is sponsoring a native plant sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Ashantilly Center, 15591 Ga. Highway 99, Darien.
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Georgia lawmakers about to focus on private water systems
Private water systems became an issue earlier this year when the Republican-controlled General Assembly voted largely along party lines to allow private utilities to provide water in areas where no public service can be provided within 18 months.
Georgia regulators consider pricey power plant to bolster forestry jobs
Biomass is an expensive and polluting way to generate electricity, but elected Georgia regulators favor it as a way to prop up forestry in the state.
South Georgia Republicans crowd pro-Trump rally in Savannah
More than 300 of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s most ardent fans crowded a ballroom to hear one of his most enthusiastic surrogates: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
Water System Upgrades Could Require More Than $1 Trillion Over Next 20 Years
Upgrades to U.S. stormwater, wastewater and drinking water systems are estimated to cost $1.2 trillion.
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