By March 1, the Department of Natural Resources will predict
whether
or not Georgia faces another year of severe drought. If a severe
drought is predicted, the Flint River Drought Protection Act will
be initiated for the 2001 growing season.
The major objective of this act is to maintain adequate water
flows in the Flint River basin during times of drought. This can
partially be achieved by reducing the number of acres farmers
within the basin irrigate during drought years.
Farmers eligible to participate in the act will be reimbursed
for not using irrigation on part of their land for the entire
calendar year.
Let the Bidding
Begin
Using an auction process, farmers will submit bids to DNR. With
the bids, farmers will tell DNR how much money per acre it
will take for them not to irrigate designated acres on their
farm.
The on-line auction will take place March 17. To prevent a long
lines on the day of the auction, farmers can
preregister
March 16. Everyone must be preregistered to participate. To
participate
in the auction, the irrigation pump must be permitted by DNR,
and the irrigation system must have been in operation in previous
years.
Flint River Drought Protection Act Irrigation auction
sites:
Calhoun County (Edison)
Preregistration: Calhoun County High School guidance office
Auction: Calhoun County High School cafeteria
Crisp County (Cordele)
Crisp County High School, Agricultural Classroom and Lab
Early County (Blakely)
Albany Technical College in Early County
Lee County (Leesburg)
Preregistration: Superintendent’s Office
Auction: Lee County Grade School cafeteria
Randolph County (Cuthbert)
Andrew College Library
Sumter County (Americus)
South Georgia Technical College, Lindburgh Room
Terrell County (Dawson)
USDA National Peanut Lab, Conference Room
Webster County (Preston)
Webster County High School cafeteria and computer lab
No Limits on Bids
There are no limits on how much a farmer can bid for irrigated
acres. Money used to reimburse farmers will come from a $10
million
fund established with state tobacco settlement money, said Kerry
Harrison, irrigation engineer with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
For further information regarding the Flint River Drought
Protection
act, call the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at
1-888-373-5947 or (404) 657-5947.
