Once Forsyth County government officials began talking publicly about a new water treatment facility on the north end of the county, the Lake Lanier Association (LLA) said its members started fielding a number of questions about the plant.
LLA Executive Director Joanna Cloud said the group has been responding to individual requests, but wanted to release a statement on the project to create more education and awareness about its stance.
"We have been aware, for several years now, of the proposed plant in North Forsyth and are watching it to see what develops in the Environmental Protection Division permitting process," Cloud said in a press statement issued Wednesday, Dec. 19. "From a Lake Lanier Association perspective, we will weigh in on the water quality in the lake aspect of this issue, not the property value, placement, or property rights off the lake aspect."
Cloud said LLA is supportive of local governments on Lake Lanier that want to boost water returns to the lake.
"Many people consider the treated water coming back into the lake as treated to such a high standard that it is actually cleaner than the water being pulled out at the intake facilities for drinking water," Cloud wrote. "We have water returns above Buford Dam of only about 50% for water pulled out of Lake Lanier. We can do better. Metro Atlanta has returns approaching 80% for water pulled out of the Chattahoochee."
Cloud said if the goal is to keep Lake Lanier at higher levels, then one way to do that is to increase local water returns into the lake.
Cloud said once the new Forsyth County plant is in the state permitting process, LLA will monitor TMDL (total maximum daily load) levels for the treated water.
Cloud also wrote that she believes the new treated-water discharge plant would mean lower bacteria would be discharged into Lake Lanier after heavy rainfall. She pointed to the fact that North Forsyth is an area with large numbers of livestock and wide areas of agricultural land. Plus, there is a higher concentration of older septic systems in that part of the county. All of that typically translates into higher bacteria levels leaching into the lake following a significant rain event.
"Even if we can get comfortable with TMDL standards of multiple discharge permits in a single area, doubling the concerns about things like incoming water temperature or air content in the discharge make having multiple permits in single tributary challenging,” Cloud said.
Cloud said LLA also is in favor of sewer facilities over septic facilities because with sewer, especially municipality systems as opposed to private systems, there are more controls in place to prevent issues and more resources for mitigation should problems arise.
Find out more information about the planned 99-acre facility here.
