Water Withdrawal Permits and the Courts

Since water withdrawal permits are so integral to the protection of instream flows, aquatic habitat and water quality, UCR monitors proposed withdrawal permits and permit modifications in the upper Chattahoochee River Basin.

In 1998, we secured a precedent-setting judicial decision regarding the standing of public interest groups, such as UCR, to challenge water withdrawal permits. In the case, the Georgia Power Company (GPC) requested an increase in its water withdrawal permit for Plant Wansley, a coal-fired power plant on the Chattahoochee above West Point Lake. UCR appealed the state’s modification of the permit, which nearly doubled amount of water GPC could take from the river from 60 million gallons per day (mgd) to 116 mgd.

EPD and Georgia Power asked the administrative law judge (ALJ) to dismiss the case, claiming that only other permit holders and riparian landowners have standing to bring water withdrawal permit challenges. The ALJ decided against these arguments in favor of UCR, thereby opening the door for individuals and groups in Georgia to challenge water withdrawal permits issued by the state that will negatively affect the public’s use of state waters.