Three-State SWCS Water Meeting

Fifty members of the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia chapters of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) held a Water Resources Issues Meeting at the North Florida Research and Education Center in Quincy, Florida, last week to share information on water resources conservation issues and encourage interaction between society members.

Topics included:
• agricultural and urban water conservation efforts,
• impacts of water storage and minimum base flow,
• water quality impacts,
• storm water runoff and erosion,
• sediment control,
• effects of water management on wildlife and marine/aquatic life, and
• aquaculture and fisheries.

NRCS area conservationist Jeff Norville said, “This meeting gave us an opportunity to share our thoughts on water resources.  I’m sure everyone in attendance took away a better understanding of each other's concerns relative to water resource issues in the three states.”

Sharing his concerns with the group, environmentalist Chadwick Taylor with the Apalachicola Riverkeepeers explained, “We are the voice of the Apalachicola River. We perceive four threats to the river including minimum flow issues between the three states, water quality, dredging, and growth management.”

Georgia NRCS State Conservationist James Tillman summed up goals for the meeting, “We are here to do things more efficiently when it comes to water conservation.  We are trying to show producers the best ways to manage the resources that they have.”

President-elect for the Georgia chapter of the SWCS Dr. Mark Reisse who coordinated the meeting said, “We thought it would be a good idea to work cooperatively and set this meeting up specifically to look at how we could better work together to manage our water resources.

Auburn University GIS Spatial Analyst Donn Rodekohr commented on the so-called “Water Wars” — disputes relative to rivers like the Flint and the Apalachicola that flow across the three states’ boundaries.  “As a result of these conflicts a more westernized approach to water distribution is on the radar screen — an approach that mandates State responsibility to manage allocation and appropriation of their water resources including turning-off ground or surface water to a user.”

The following require Windows Media Player. 
Listen to Dr. Mark Reisse, Chadwick Taylor, and Jeff Norville talk about the tri-state water issues.
Your contact is Bob Stobaugh, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 352-338-9565.