Growth readiness for Georgia: water quality matters

Georgia communities will soon benefit from a new program for planners, public works, and local elected officials. The program helps communities learn how land use decisions affect water quality, and then make informed choices about managing growth. It helps them comply with regulatory requirements. The program's target audience, planners, public works, and local elected officials, are intimately involved in the day-to-day, nuts-and-bolts of their community's land use and water quality decisions. Through the program, they will receive training, presentations, maps, references and technical assistance. The program helps them explain simply and succinctly the complex issues and choices surrounding land use and water quality in their community. It helps them build consensus for development rule changes that permit communities to both grow and preserve their precious and vital water resources. The session will describe plans for this program in Georgia, and how a similar program is producing results for planners and public works officials in Tennessee.Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science Center U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute The University of Georgia, Water Resources Facult