Council Coordination and Joint Meetings of the regional water planning councils

The State Water Plan charges EPD with "ensuring coordination of water planning across the boundaries of adjoining water planning regions."  The State Water Plan emphasizes the importance of coordination among councils for water resources that are hydrologically connected or those affected by water management activities in adjacent planning regions. Furthermore, Section 1D of the Regional Water Planning Councils’ Memoranda of Agreement, provides that the Councils are responsible for "coordinating with adjacent water planning councils and/or water planning councils that share resources." In order to meet these requirements, the Regional Water Planning Councils and EPD starting meeting jointly in January 2010. 

The initial round of regional water planning was kicked off on March 13, 2009. For more information on this groundbreaking meeting, please click here.

The first set of Joint Meetings took place in January and February 2010 and focused upon the preliminary results of the draft baseline Resource Assessments. For more information on these Joint Meetings, please visit the links below.

• Altamaha, Ocmulgee, and Oconee River Basins Joint Meeting - January 22, 2010
  This Joint Meeting was held in Macon, Georgia with representatives of the Altamaha, Coastal, Middle Ocmulgee, Savannah-Upper Ogeechee, Suwannee-Satilla, Upper Flint, and Upper Oconee Regional Water Planning Councils, as well as members of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District.
  
  
• Chattahoochee River Basin Joint Meeting - February 1, 2010
  This Joint Meeting was held in Columbus, Georgia with representatives of the Coosa-North Georgia, Lower Flint-Ochlockonee, Middle Chattahoochee, and Upper Flint Regional Water Planning Councils, as well as members of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District.
  
  
• Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Tennessee River Basins Joint Meeting - January 26, 2010
  This Joint Meeting was held in Dawsonville, Georgia with representatives of the Coosa-North Georgia, Middle Chattahoochee, and Savanna-Upper Ogeechee Regional Water Planning Councils, as well as members of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District.
  
  
• Flint and Ochlockonee River Basins Joint Meeting - January 15, 2010
  This Joint Meeting was held in Americus, Georgia with representatives of the Lower Flint-Ochlockonee, Middle Chattahoochee, Middle Ocmulgee, and Upper Flint Regional Water Planning Councils, as well as members of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District.
  
  
• Satilla, Suwannee, and St. Mary's River Basins Joint Meeting - January 28, 2010
  This Joint Meeting was held in Waycross, Georgia with representatives of the Altamaha, Coastal Georgia, Lower Flint-Ochlockonee, Suwannee-Satilla, and Upper Flint Regional Water Planning Councils.
  
  
• Savannah and Ogeechee River Basins Joint Meeting - January 19, 2010
  This Joint Meeting was held in Augusta, Georgia with representatives of the Altamaha, Coastal Georgia, Savannah-Upper Ogeechee, Suwannee-Satilla, and Upper Oconee Regional Water Planning Councils.

Throughout 2010 the Councils have been meeting with each other periodically on an adhoc basis to discuss a range of shared issues and discuss potential solutions. For more information on these Council specific adhoc joint meetings, please notify the primary contact  for the Council you are interested in.

The next Joint Meeting of the ten Regional Water Councils and the Metro Water District took place on October 6, 2010, and focused on proposed management practices and solutions.

• For more information on this Joint Meeting, please visit the October Joint Regional Water Planning Council Meeting: Management Practices Panel Discussions page.

An ad hoc meeting was held December 7, 2010 to provide additional information on instream flow to interested members of the Water Planning Councils. The meeting was a voluntary work session on instream flows and aquatic resources, with the objective of developing language for recommendations regarding the next round of planning that Councils can consider for inclusion in their draft plans.

• For more information on this meeting, please visit the Instream Flow AD Hoc Meeting page.