How big a priority is water conservation at the Capitol?

Before the session began, both Gov. Sonny Perdue and Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson told me that, in addition to new reservoir funding this year, they expected water conservation legislation to move.

This was Gov. Perdue's comment, in January:

Perdue said new building codes "for the future" and tax credits for more efficient water usage are both likely. But the governor twice noted that the state doesn't want to usurp local power over water resources.

And the Speaker in November:

I'm not going to pass legislation to tell people you've got to have a low-flow toilet. I think we could change our policies on EPD, with wastewater treatment, to point discharge instead of sprayer irrigation. I think we can change some really basic things that have to do with leakage. ... You do realize that leakage in existing pipes is somewhere between 10 and 12 percent loss per day, just leaking out of pipes. And that's a problem. ... I do see a possible piece of legislation in addition to the reservoir piece that might look into the viability of creating a water resource division to work with Environmental Protection Division. Clearly Environmental Protection Division has not done an adequate job of protecting Georgia's water resources over the last 10 or 15 years.

I know the EPD has moved toward advocating point discharge over the former favorite, spray irrigation, which is a whole different post. I don't know of new efforts to fix leaking pipes or create a water resource division within EPD. Educate me if you do at tfain@macon.com.

Reservoirs were definitely addressed, with $40 million included in the 2008 budget adjustment for new reservoirs and $500,000 there for existing reservoir maintenance.

As for conservation, it doesn't seem like a lot of legislation came to fruition. There are several bills dealing with water usage that have either passed or are still alive. Most of them seem to make it easier to use more water as opposed to encouraging conservation, but you should judge for yourself.

Two caveats: 1.) Things change fast these last few days, and bill language is no exception. 2.) The vote status comes from the General Assembly's Web site Wednesday evening, which may be a little behind.

I should also note that, outside of legislation, Gov. Perdue implemented a 10 percent usage reduction in the 61 north Georgia counties with the Level 4 drought conditions. Not all counties made the goal, but on the average the area hit the mark, according to the governor's office.

Presumably, though, that will be harder to maintain in the spring and summer.

HB 1281: This is the "local control" bill city and county folks are concerned about. According to The AJC, the bill would make it more difficult for local governments to restrict outdoor watering beyond limits the state sets.

Basically, local governments would have to get state EPD permission first. The bill has passed both the House and Senate, but in slightly different versions, meaning a compromise has to be struck before sending it to the governor.

Gov. Sonny Perdue's office has nodded toward a veto saying "in general" the governor supports local control, and local folks say it would be difficult to make that state-mandated 10 percent cut in water usage without the power to restrict outdoor watering.

SB 466: exempts car washes and swimming pools from outdoor watering restrictions if they meet certain (and pretty basic) conditions. It's passed both the House and Senate.

HB 1226: This is a long bill that, according to media summaries I've seen, is meant to speed up the reservoir permitting and building process. I can't find the link, but one story quoted an attorney who worked on the bill as saying the state would deal with the Army Corps of Engineers on permits instead of local governments.

But this bill also contains a measure I think people will view as pro-conservation. It's got a four-day sales tax exemption (in October) for buying "energy efficient products or water efficient products with a sales price of $1,500.00 or less." Only regular folks can get the exemption, not people purchasing for "trade, business, or resale."

That the language in the version passed by a Senate committee. The House's original bill, according to the Speaker's office, was a year-round tax credit for builders who bought energy and water efficient devices. It seems that would have made it more likely for these devices to make their way into more homes by encouraging builders to install them instead of just existing homeowners, but what do I know. It looks like the full Senate hasn't voted on the bill yet.

SB 463: Sets restrictions on the usage of gray water (that's water from your bathtub) in outdoor watering.

HR 1022: It's the water plan. I don't really know what it does. I seem to remember the word "toothless" getting thrown around a lot, but that may not be fair. Both the House and Senate passed it and the governor signed it in February. SB 351 is some companion legislation, setting up an oversight committee. It looks like the Senate. has passed it, but not the House.

That's all I know about, and I called the speaker's and governor's press offices and asked them to suggest any legislation they felt I should look at.

UPDATE: From Neill Herring, a pro-environment lobbyist at the Capitol who is one of the most knowledgeable people I've met on these issues:

There is a chance we will get an income tax exemption in HB 1226 in addition to the sales tax holiday.

There is also a requirement in HB 1281, the outdoor watering bill, that the EPD make new drought rules by the middle of next year, and I would hope that those rules would contain some strong conservation measures, since, as the Speaker implies, saving is the cheapest way to get more water.

The most useful thing I can think of thhat is entirely unaddressed is state help for water utilities in redesigning their rates so that conservation of water does not also damage their income and credit. This is specialized activity that are hard to do "in-house" and hiring the experts is not cheap.

UPDATE on April 8: Not all of these passed, but here's an AJC article summarizing water issues this session.