Letter to the Editor
The recent release of the Georgia Water Coalition’s Clean 13 is good news for Georgia’s rivers and the people that depend on them. The report highlights 13 individuals, businesses, industries, non- profit organizations and state and local governments who are protecting Georgia’s water, including local state representative, John Meadows ( R- Calhoun).
These 13 clean water initiatives solve real pollution and water supply problems and show us a path for moving forward to create cleaner rivers and more livable communities.
Interestingly, the problems are getting solved the same way they were created—one small project at a time.
Since Oglethorpe landed at Savannah in 1733, Georgians have slowly changed the landscape of their state— often not for the better. Our streams and rivers have bore the brunt of these changes. They’ve been dammed, filled with dirt, overfished, moved around, piped and covered and more. One stream at a time, over the span of nearly 300 years of Georgia history, these small changes have added up to some major problems for our water.
A recent Georgia Environmental Protection Division assessment of Georgia’s water found that 8,529 miles of streams, 96,754 acres of lakes, 10 square miles of sounds and harbors and 2.7 miles of coastal beaches fail to meet clean water standards.
The problems that have fouled these streams are as diverse as the streams themselves. Often times the problems are small but numerous— polluted drops in the bucket that add up to big problems.
The Clean 13 report reveals that people close to home are helping to solve these problems.
Rep. John Meadows, Chairman of the House Rules Committee, was noted in the report for his work to update the state’s oil and gas drilling laws to protect communities from the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”
Meadows knows a thing or two about the consequences of water pollution. During his time serving on Calhoun’s city council and as mayor, the city spent millions of dollars relocating its primary drinking water intake pumps to the Coosawattee River because of continued pollution of the Oostanaula.
His community suffered because of upstream polluters, and the “fracking” legislation he is pushing through the General Assembly should help prevent similar harm to downstream communities in the future.
For sure, there’s still many pollution problems to correct in the upper Coosa River basin, but the work of Rep. Meadows, and the others highlighted in the Clean 13 Report, is leading to healthier rivers one drop, one stream, one river at a time.
After centuries of our human activities harming our rivers, that’s good news for everyone.