News/Press Releases

If you are a reporter who would like more information about UCR's work, events, or perspective on current issues, please contact Mary Harrison , UCR Communications Director, at mharrison@ucriverkeeper.org or (404) 352-9828 x24.

Recent News

Georgia Riverkeepers Present Solutions to Tri-State Water War: Charting a New Course for Georgia’s Water Security (click to download press release)
Waterkeeper Alliance Demands Testing, Tracking, and Transparency from Government During BP Oil Disaster
Reservoir Project Approved by Georgia Legislature Threatens Tristate Negotiations
UCR Launches New Bacteria Monitoring Program.
Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Expects the Work of “The Sewer Mayor” to be Completed
Judicial Ruling Forces Tri-State Water Issue

UCR Press Releases
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Recent UCR News

Waterkeeper Alliance Demands Testing, Tracking, and Transparency from Government During BP Oil Disaster

One Month into Disaster, Environmental Safety Questions Remain Unanswered

Mobile Bay, AL; Baton Rouge and Barataria, LA; Apalachicola and Pensacola, FL; Galveston, TX – May 20, 2010 – Today, one month into the still-uncontrolled BP oil disaster, Waterkeeper Alliance, the global environmental organization, issued an urgent call to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding testing and tracking of oil and dispersant contaminants in the Gulf of Mexico, and a demand to all agencies involved in the disaster for more transparency and forthrightness in reporting these findings and information to the public.

The Alliance and its Gulf Coast member groups on the front lines of this still-unfolding disaster caused by BP, strongly urged the EPA to:

• Rigorously and fully perform tests on the water column to determine what toxicity risks and dangers the Gulf’s people, communities, and fish and wildlife are being exposed to;
• Conduct full and diligent tracking and testing of the flesh of fish, turtles and other marine animals to detect the presence of toxins associated with dispersants being used in the Gulf of Mexico by BP;
• Improve air-quality testing, increase the number of air monitoring stations (which are wholly inadequate now), and establish monitoring stations in population centers;
• And, full transparency in the straightforward public communication of these findings so that residents of gulf communities, public officials, and spill responders can take appropriate safety precautions.

“We applaud EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s announcement that her agency will be more transparent in its communications, but one month into this disaster, we find that we still don’t have basic safety information or a systematic testing effort in place to determine health impacts of dispersants, oil and smoke from burning oil,” said Kristine Stratton, Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “BP, as the responsible party, has governed access to information, but the public’s right to know should not begin where BP’s prerogatives end. We demand full accountability from government and BP, and accurate information to ensure the health and safety of Gulf Coast communities.”

Gulf Coast Waterkeepers – Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper and Louisiana Bayoukeeper, Alabama’s Mobile Baykeeper, Florida’s Emerald Coastkeeper and Apalachicola Riverkeeper, and Texas’s Galveston Baykeeper – continue to report on the effectiveness of natural resource protection and conduct clean up efforts, and several are taking part in meetings with local and federal authorities. Their firsthand information is providing invaluable perspective, but they are also seeing where efforts are falling far short of what is needed.

“It is absolutely NOT our intention to make the incredibly unfortunate circumstances that our local fisherfolk and business owners have to endure even worse, but we are gravely concerned about what we have not been told - specifically about the hundreds of thousands of gallons of dispersants used.” said Emerald Coastkeeper Chasidy Fisher Hobbs. “These chemicals pull oil into the water column where we locals, and the world watching, cannot see it. The limited knowledge we have on these products causes me to pause and question the message that our beaches and seafood are safe. We Waterkeepers have been working tirelessly to get the information needed to make informed decisions, but thus far, none have been forthcoming from the Government, and not from BP. I hope we have these answers sooner rather than later.”

In calling for increased transparency, the Waterkeepers also outlined the urgent need to make public the type and nature of the chemicals used in dispersants, and further demanded that air safety monitoring, right now pitifully inadequate, be stepped up. They note that there are only two mobile air monitoring trucks for the entire Gulf Coast region, and the few stationary monitors are not near population centers, which have gone largely untested.

“We now know that this deepwater drilling operation was undertaken without considering the very consequences that we are now facing, without creating a fall back plan in the event that disaster struck, and without any assessment of the risks,” said Apalachicola Riverkeeper Dan Tonsmeire. “At best, this is an example of irresponsible development conducted without regard for the Gulf or lives of workers. How can it be that the most reliable fall-back position is drilling an interceptor well that will take 3-4 months to complete, while this well spews somewhere between 200,000 and 1,000,000 gallons per day into the Gulf?”

Waterkeeper Alliance is a global environmental organization uniting more than 190 Waterkeeper programs around the world and focusing citizen advocacy on the issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. More information can be found at www.Waterkeeper.org.

To see what Gulf Coast Waterkeepers are doing to fight the disaster and to find out how you can help, visit www.saveourgulf.org .

MEDIA CONTACTS:
John Bianchi for Waterkeeper Alliance: 212-576-2700, ext 228 jbianchi@goodmanmedia.com
Sakura Amend for Waterkeeper Alliance: 212-576-2700, ext 237 samend@goodmanmedia.com

Reservoir Project Approved by Georgia Legislature Threatens Tristate Negotiatons

April 30, 2010 – Atlanta & Albany, GA - Just a month after passing a comprehensive water conservation bill, the Georgia legislature took a major step backward in resolving the state’s water supply disputes with its downstream neighbors. A bill was passed to expedite the construction of a reservoir, which is in part an amenity lake in the midst of a projected upscale subdivision in metro Atlanta. This step is certain to undermine negotiations with Alabama and Florida over the water in the Chattahoochee River Basin.

Sally Bethea, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, said, “If this reservoir is built, its operation will result in a significant and entirely unnecessary loss of water to the river and communities downstream in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. It threatens our efforts to develop an equitable, water sharing agreement and will negate the water savings achieved through the new conservation bill.”

Three cities in South Fulton County applied to the Corps of Engineers in 2009 to build a 440-acre reservoir on Bear Creek, a tributary to the Chattahoochee, and pump 32 million gallons of water per day (MGD) from the river to fill the impoundment. Federal agencies, the city of Atlanta and numerous environmental organizations objected to the construction of the project in comments to the Corps.

“Thirty-two million gallons per day is a significant percentage of what Georgia and Florida are arguing over at the Florida line,” said Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper. This is a greedy water grab by metro north Georgia that harms the Chattahoochee and puts more pressure on the Flint to make up the difference.”

Currently, the South Fulton County area is supplied with water by the city of Atlanta which has the existing, fully permitted capacity to continue to serve the area well into the future, without the construction of this reservoir. HB 406, which passed on the last night of the session, removed an impediment to the state’s permitting and funding of that project, and any similar project, by exempting it from the Service Delivery Act, thereby allowing the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to move forward with its review and approval of the permit application and the state to allocate funds for its construction.

The Bear Creek reservoir is to be constructed on property owned by Carl Bouckaert, owner and future developer of thousands of acres in South Fulton County. About half of the water withdrawn from the Chattahoochee would be used only for the purpose of maintaining an aesthetic level in this amenity reservoir at the expense of downstream water users.

Less than two miles downstream of the confluence of Bear Creek and the Chattahoochee lies the existing Dog Creek reservoir in Douglas County. Bethea said, “Governor Perdue’s Water Contingency Task Force identified an expansion of this reservoir to be a top priority since it will yield twice as much water supply as the Bear Creek reservoir at half the cost. With the approval of HB 406, the Georgia legislature has shown that it is more interested in hoarding water for private development in metro Atlanta, than equitably sharing this liquid wealth with its downstream neighbors.”

In addition to undermining Georgia’s negotiating position in the tri-state water dispute, the bill has potentially devastating implications for utilities across Georgia who rely on service delivery agreements to ensure that they are compensated for the water utility services and investments on infrastructure they provide to Georgia’s cities and counties.

UCR Launches New Bacteria Monitoring Program!

UCR is proud to announce our newest monitoring program, Neighborhood Water Watch. Our goal is to improve water quality in urban streams and protect human health in the surrounding communities. Many of the streams flowing through metro Atlanta neighborhoods and into the Chattahoochee River are polluted with high levels of bacteria due to cracked and overflowing sewers, failing septic systems, and urban runoff.

While the settlement of UCR’s 1995 lawsuit against the City of Atlanta will resolve the major sewer overflow problems, there is still a need to investigate hot spot areas of contamination in the city and other jurisdictions and work with local governments and neighborhood groups and leaders to stop this public health threat and restore our streams.

With the assistance of generous support from two local foundations, we were able to purchase Idexx total coliform and E. coli testing lab equipment. Fecal coliform bacteria, including E. coli, are a group of bacteria that inhabit the intestinal tract of warm-blooded animals. The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in water indicates fecal contamination of the water by a warm-blooded animal and harmful bacteria associated with fecal contamination may also be present. Elevated bacteria levels are a common indicator of sewage leaks and spills into waterways and the data can indicate the number and type of pathogens present in the water.

This state of the art lab equipment is EPA-approved and will prove to be an invaluable tool for UCR to respond to Hotline calls and identify sources of sewage contamination. Thank you to our generous donors for making this program possible!

For more information about this program, contact UCR's Technical Program's Director, Jason Ulseth.

Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Expects the Work of “The Sewer Mayor” to be Completed (Published in Creative Loafing online, 10/26/09)

Eight short years ago, Atlanta’s aging sewer system was a disgrace to its citizens and to the state of Georgia. It was also illegal. When Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (UCR) sued the city of Atlanta in 1995 for violations of the Clean Water Act, hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage were routinely dumped into our streams and the river.

Although a federal judge ruled that the city had to clean up its act, then Mayor Bill Campbell did little but stall, leaving it to the next mayor to solve the problem, even while the judge threatened a moratorium on new development because Atlanta did not have the sewage infrastructure to support such development.

When Mayor Shirley Franklin took office 8 years ago, it was a welcome change for UCR to finally find a real partner in the massive sewer repair and rehabilitation. The new Mayor even called herself “The Sewer Mayor,” and was not willing to pass on this problem to yet another generation. Mayor Franklin also undertook an aggressive program to rebuild Atlanta’s drinking water system at the same time the city overhauled its sewage system.

Both these expensive public works programs received less than half a percent of their total cost (funding) from the federal government and low-interest loans from the state. Atlantans taxed themselves to pay for it, and the work to date - done on time and within budget – has been “remarkable,” as observed by the federal judge in charge of overseeing the work. Anyone who tells you different is selling something other than clean water.

Atlanta’s next mayor must be someone who understands the progress we’ve made and who is determined to finish the job. Whatever anyone may think of Mayor Franklin’s performance on any other issue, both voters and candidates for mayor need to keep this in mind: under her leadership, with the hard work of the Department of Watershed Management, the end is in sight for Atlanta’s polluting of the Chattahoochee River and its tributaries.

This work will vastly improve water quality for Atlantans, the metro region, and downstream communities. It will be up to the next mayor to make good on the investment Atlanta has made so far by completing this work by the deadlines established in the federal consent that settled UCR’s lawsuit. Failure to finish this work in a timely basis could result in direct court supervision of its completion, with no regard to political or local economic considerations, a step the judge has made plain he will not hesitate to invoke.

Judicial Ruling Forces Tri-State Water Issue (published in UCR's Fall 2009 RiverCHAT)

On July 17, 2009, federal judge Paul Magnuson answered the key question that has loomed over the 20-year tri-state water war among Georgia, Alabama and Florida—how much of the water in Lake Lanier can be used legally for metro Atlanta water supply?

His answer was stunning: none.

In a 97-page order, Magnuson chronicles the history of Lake Lanier from its authorization by Congress in 1945 for hydropower, flood control and navigation, to Atlanta Mayor Hartsfield’s decision in the 1950s against city financial support for the lake project—a miscalculation that has undermined Atlanta’s claim that it should be able to use the reservoir for water supply. Magnuson concludes that in allowing Atlanta to withdraw water from Lanier for water supply, the Corps of Engineers acted illegally.

“As we all learned in grade school, the separation of powers is fundamental to our federal government… Congress authorized and paid for Buford Dam and gave the Corps of Engineers the authority to operate the dam. Congress specified, however, that… if the Corps believed that it must operate the project in a manner contrary to Congress’ initial authorization of the project, it must so inform Congress and secure Congress’ permission to do so… Congressional approval of the reallocation of storage in Lake Lanier is required.” (Magnuson order)

Despite the clear need for Georgia to secure Congressional approval to use water from Lake Lanier to supply metro Atlanta, state leaders failed to seek such authorization, even as the region’s population exploded in the past two decades. Instead, the state vigorously pursued a doomed legal strategy, with no plan “b”.

A Wake-Up Call

Grandstanding and chest-beating by officials in all three states dominated the news in the months following the ruling. This behavior further entrenched old resentments at a time when the states needed to focus instead on solutions to share the water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin.

As draconian as the Magnuson ruling may appear, it has provided an unprecedented opportunity—some might even call it a mandate—to advance sustainable water management strategies in the ACF Basin. To accomplish this goal, Georgia must be willing to deemphasize litigation and, instead, emphasize smart, cost-effective water supply solutions, over long-term, expensive and risky ones.

The 15-county metro region has had a wake-up call that cannot be ignored. Judge Magnuson gave Georgia (read: metro Atlanta) until July 2012 to resolve its water supply problems; if this doesn’t happen, some areas in the region, as well as downstream, will be out of water and others could experience stringent water rationing.

Common Sense Solutions

Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper has been involved with the tri-state water issue for 15 years, focusing on the policy, scientific and legal decisions needed to fairly allocate the water in the ACF Basin among competing users, while leaving enough clean water in the rivers to support healthy ecosystems.

Instead of continuing to point fingers at the other states, Georgia officials must admit that metro Atlanta has a serious water problem—due to its small watershed, growing population, sprawling development, and higher than average use of water and energy (generated at water-consuming power plants).

Next, a package of conservation measures must be adopted by the state legislature in 2010. UCR and other leaders of the Georgia Water Coalition met in late August with Governor Perdue to recommend specific action items that, collectively, will yield significant water savings for the 15-county metro region. Once adopted, this legislation should help assure communities downstream in the ACF Basin that Georgia is serious about making better use of limited water supplies.

Conservation alone will not satisfy all of Atlanta’s future water demands. Officials also must evaluate existing water supply sources to determine their maximum yield, including the possibility of raising the pool at Lake Lanier, in addition to reallocating some storage for metro water supply. These actions that will require Congressional approval and direction to the Corps regarding its operation of Buford Dam and other federal reservoirs in the system, as well as careful consideration of instream flows needed to support all uses, including water quality, recreation and fishing.

Finally, but essentially, Georgia must take the lead in securing agreement among the states and government agencies on a uniform, basin-wide approach to data collection, measurement and modeling. You cannot responsibly and adaptively manage something that you do not measure and monitor.

The above solutions do not represent all the actions that must be taken to resolve the tri-state water wars; however, they are common sense strategies that can be implemented during the final year of the Perdue Administration, if there is sufficient political will.