Gov. Nathan Deal has established a water czar to focus the state’s efforts on water supply and litigation.
Although water supply wasn’t much of an issue during the recent gubernatorial campaign, Deal established the position just a month after the election and on the eve of the 2015 legislative session – during which Deal may ask lawmakers to provide additional money for dams and other water projects.
Reservoirs are just one of several state water policies that continue to draw fire from ...more
Just minutes after he was named GRTA’s executive director, Chris Tomlinson was busy Wednesday talking about potential synergy between GRTA and the state agency that oversees managed lanes.
“We’ll roll out incentives to get more people to take advantage of transit,” Tomlinson said. “We hope to shift people out of vehicles, especially at the peaks, and take advantage of what transit providers already are doing.”
This outlook, of merging two state agencies that oversee alternate modes of transit, evidently is what Gov. ...more
MARTA’s latest contract negotiation with its labor union could help MARTA curb its personnel costs by reducing absenteeism and the overtime costs it creates.
Absent workers represent one of the main categories where MARTA could cut costs, according to the management audit conducted in 2012 by the consulting firm KPMG. MARTA covers for absent workers by approving overtime pay for their replacements.
KPMG recommended MARTA implement programs to ensure employees show up for work. MARTA followed the recommendation in the first contract ...more
Memorial Drive has the potential to become a visually interesting and vibrant corridor along its section from Oakland Cemetery to the DeKalb County line.
At least, that’s the opinion of a group of Georgia Tech students who have spent their fall semester analyzing Memorial Drive. On Wednesday, they unveiled a report they and their professor think is so well developed that parts of it are ready to be implemented.
Students crafted their report with the details typical of reports created with funding ...more
Georgia State and the CDC have teamed up on a two-year research project to evaluate how the Atlanta BeltLine is affecting the quality of life of people who live near it.
The BeltLine is the nation’s largest urban renewal project. As such, there’s a great deal of interest in the degree to which the BeltLine can improve the physical and mental well being of people who live near it or use it regularly.
The new study will address some of those issues. ...more
Florida has submitted a $26.1 million proposal to improve water issues that affect the Apalachicola River basin. Funding is to come from environmental penalties paid in connection with the 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The document Florida filed doesn’t address the effect this proposal could have on the state’s water dispute with Georgia, which involves the Apalachicola watershed.
The document does describe proposals to fix manmade situations that have resulted from the farming, cattle, and slash-pine timber industries. The ...more
Atlanta low-balled the event, but the city on Thursday hosted an industry forum that is an early step in the process of building a major park along the Atlanta BeltLine, at the old Bellwood rock quarry.
At the forum, Atlanta presented information to vendors who may want to help establish a water reservoir at the old quarry. While the reservoir is immensely important, the public’s attention has been more attracted to the prospect of a huge new park on the west ...more
A new report by Pew Charitable Trusts shows that Georgia is a national leader in solar power and clean energy.
Released Tuesday, Pew’s report provides more information for policy makers as the nation prepares to respond to new federal policies. The policies are to compel states to reduce carbon emissions associated with power production.
President Obama’s Climate Action Plan aims to reduce overall carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power sector by 30 percent, compared to 2005 levels, by 2030, according to ...more
Almost 100 acres of undeveloped land along the Chattahoochee River, located just south of Buford Dam, has been put up for sale by the city of Sugar Hill.
And there’s more than just the land to whet interest. The site overlooks Richland Creek, where gold was mined in the 1830s as prospectors looked for nuggets far from the crowds who’d flocked to Dahlonega in the gold rush of 1828.
Sugar Hill is seeking a company to buy and develop a 99 acre ...more
A taste of things to come in the management of Georgia’s water resources may be evident in the federal lawsuit filed over the role of Lake Allatoona as a source of drinking water for metro Atlanta.
The lawsuit rekindles a host of issues including: Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to build or expand water reservoirs; water conservation efforts; and the federal government’s pending Water Control Manual for the Chattahoochee River system.
In addition, the lawsuit filed Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court in ...more
