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Show 228 GEORGIA 2. State Organizational Structure for Water Administration and Control 2.1 Administration of Water Bights Surface water rights are not administered in Georgia, and there is no agency of the State having authority or jurisdiction over such water use. (The Groundwater Use Act of 1972 is discussed in sec. 4, infra.) However, to the extent that water is used to carry wastes and effluents, the Division of Georgia Water Quality Control, within the department of health,3 has administrative jurisdiction over water classification, water quality standards, and the issuance of waste dis- charge permits, as discussed in section 2.3, infra. 2.2 Resolution of Water Use Conflicts Georgia has no administrative machinery or institutional arrange- ments to resolve disputes between water users, other than the courts. Even there, the disputes are resolved on a case-by-case basis, and there is no provision for general adjudications of riparian rights on stream systems. 2.3 Other Agencies Having Water Resource Responsibilities a. Water Quality Control A 1957 act dealing with water quality control was completely superseded by legislation in 19644 in order to comply with Federal legislation. The principal defect in the earlier act was in the prosecu- tion it afforded to existing polluters who had acquired easements, flowage rights, or prescriptive rights to pollute. The 1964 legislation has since been amended in a few particulars, as recently as 1972. The present Georgia Water Quality Control Act opens with a preamble declaring it to be the policy of the State that water re- sources shall be "utilized prudently to the maximum benefit of the people in order to restore and maintain a reasonable degree of purity," and to require, where necessary, "reasonable treatment of sewage, industrial wastes, and other wastes" prior to their discharge into the waters of the State.5 (Emphasis added.) It is clear that the objective of the statute is one of restoration as distinquished from simply maintaining the present condition of purity. To accomplish these objectives, the Division or Georgia Water Quality Control was set up within the department of public health. In 1972, the functions of the water quality board were transferred to the department of natural resources and are administered by the division of environmental protection.6 The new division is under the supervision of the State water qual- ity control board, consisting of nine members appointed by the Gov- 8 See note 6. *17 Ga. Code Ann., sec. 17-501 to 17-530 (1970). For convenience, the Georgia status will hereafter be referred to simply by section numbers. 6 Sec. 17-502. 6 Sec. 40-35104 (1972 supp.). See C. Morton, Jr., "Regulation of Artificial Lakes and Recreational Subdivisions in Georgia," 8 Ga. St. Bar J. 580, 589, note 55 (1972) ; Note, 23 Mercer L. Rev. 633, 643, note 56 (1972). |