Politics & Government

Scot Turner Named Clean Water Champion

The Republican state representative from Holly Springs was awarded the Clean Water Champion Award from the Georgia Water Coalition.

Staff Report

The Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) has honored State Rep. Scot Turner (R-Holly Springs) with a Clean Water Champion Award for his support of Georgia’s rivers, lakes, groundwater and streams during the 2014 legislative session. 

The 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions saw intense debate over the ownership of water, drinking water protections, and the health of our rivers, lakes, and streams. Turner helped to craft and support solutions to the problems facing Georgia’s valuable water resources, the organization said. 

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“Georgia has been blessed with a heritage of beautiful and abundant rivers and plentiful groundwater supplies that are part of what make this state so special,” said Jennette Gayer, director of Environment Georgia and part of the GWC’s leadership. “Unfortunately, drought, increased consumption and pollution have made it clear that Georgia’s water is a finite resource that must be protected, this year Representative Scot Turner stepped up and did just that.” 

The GWC recognized legislators who took action to protect the water future generations of Georgians will depend on for drinking water, recreation, wildlife conservation and economic prosperity. 

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This included Turner's leadership around House Bill 1085, or the Farmer’s Private Property Protection Act which was introduced to protect Georgia's water law and property rights. That bill, however, did not survive the House Natural Resources and Environment committee, but did significantly influence the final version of SB 213. Senate Bill 213 – a revision of the Flint River Drought Protection Act – was very different from its original version.  

SB 213 still allows the director of the Environmental Protection Division to prohibit certain permittees from withdrawing water downstream of an augmentation project, however we now have a definition of augmentation project. Those projects are limited to a specific area in the lower Flint River basin for the sole purpose of maintaining minimum stream flows sufficient to protect habitat critical for vulnerable aquatic life. 

“We are grateful for these Clean Water Champions who protected not only the Flint but also our system of property rights and state stewardship,” said Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper and part of the GWC’s legislative team. “There is a fundamental difference between state water ownership and state protection.”

The awards were presented at Riverview Landing before some 400 participants in this year's Paddle Georgia, a 7-day, 110-mile canoe and kayak adventure down the Chattahoochee River sponsored by Georgia River Network.  

Riverview Landing, located on the Chattahoochee River in Mableton, is a former industrial site that has been reclaimed and is being converted into a sustainable mixed-use residential-retail development.


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