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No drought of words Rome News-Tribune October 25, 2007 THE FLOW of words about water coming out of Greater Rome appears to be getting some attention, and that's a good thing. However, let's be realistic. The turnout of 250-300 at The Forum to air gripes about the direction taken in the proposed statewide water-management plan to members of The Water Council was impressive ... but only when compared to attendance elsewhere in the state for the exact same thing. A session in Columbus drew about 50 participants, the same as one in Savannah. Both have much-larger population bases to draw from. The key argument there, as here, was the same: Any plan presented and to be adopted by the General Assembly should be fair and balanced, not simply grounded in the growth needs of the Atlanta metro. Plus, while the rest of the state doesn't mind sharing water it sure wants to get most of it returned if supplies are to be pulled from one river basin in order to allow residents of another to have green lawns. Most citizens don't know it, but this "statewide" plan actually doesn't directly include Atlanta at all. The 16-county metro already has its own water-management plan in place - hasn't worked too well, judging by current drought-based evidence - and this new one wouldn't apply to it at all except as regards water it may beg, borrow or steal from outside the urban mess-opolis. AND, LET'S face it, a turnout of even 300 simply doesn't cut it when it comes to getting the attention of elected decision-makers. Had there been 3,000 present at The Forum, all of them clearly of voting age and motivated to activism by a single issue, legislators would leap at the opportunity to join the "common man" to gain favorable recognition at the polls. Come to think of it - city and county commissioners who won't have a vote when push comes to shove on this being a notable exception - what are the positions of local elected legislators on this one? Where is their leadership? Why aren't any of them out in front of this "angry mob" of mussel lovers? ONE DOESN'T know what's happened to citizen activism, plainly stronger in Rome than many other places, but it sure ain't what it used to be. Perhaps even more troubling, looking around at the audience, where were all the young people? Most in attendance looked like they might be veterans of the civil-rights and anti-Vietnam eras and hence comfortable with sticking their heads up out of the ground. Yet, this is mostly about the young people and those with yet some decades to try to live in the state and world now being made. The final shape this notquite statewide water plan should take was made plain by Rome City Manager John Bennett: "The projection of the water needs for the Atlanta area should not take priority over the potential in other North Georgia communities." Or Columbus, Savannah, Valdosta, Augusta and anyplace else outside the bloated, overgrown and selfish metro. At the Rome gathering, Bennett provides a sort of "list of demands" as to what should be in the final proposal. They included: Interbasin transfers should only be approved if treated wastewater is returned to where the water was taken. Those who can't/won't do it should be put on limits. THESE, ALONG with the principle that any plan can't be just about Atlanta, are of equal value not only to Northwest Georgia but also every other section of the state.
They should also not be looked upon as "suggestions" by the state's planners. What they are is nonnegotiable demands.
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