Water is not the unlimited resource it was once believed to be
in Georgia. Its quality and quantity are uncertain, especially
as it relates to agricultural use. But a new initiative hopes to
answer some water questions for one of the state’s largest farm
and forestry producing regions.

The Suwannee River Basin Water Resources Management Initiative
is a cooperative project between the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory and the
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.

How do agricultural practices and other land uses affect the
supply and quality of water in this basin? The people? The
economy? The environment?

No one can say for sure right now.

“With this project we want to provide the stakeholders of this
region with science-based data to help guide water resource
planning for the area,” said George Vellidis, an agricultural
engineer with UGA’s National Environmentally Sound Production
Agriculture Laboratory in Tifton, Ga.

Interstate Basin

The Suwannee River basin is a major interstate basin that has
until now been one of the least developed in Georgia. As this
area continues to grow, agricultural, industrial and municipal
stakeholders will have to share, Vellidis said.

The Suwannee River basin covers some 10,000 square miles. About
6,000 square miles, or 2.6 million acres, are in Georgia.
The largest undammed drainage basin in Georgia, the Suwannee
River covers about 19 southeast Georgia counties, from Brooks
County east to Charlton County.

It starts around Crisp County and runs south through the
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness Area, crosses
the Georgia-Florida line and eventually spills into the Gulf of
Mexico.

Creating the Model

As part of the cooperative project, scientists will install and
monitor a network of rain, groundwater and stream gauges,
collect and analyze water samples, collect data on the land and
water resources and other physical, biological and cultural
features of this region.

The data collected over the next five years by this study will
be used to create a water model for this area. With this model,
policymakers and water users can more fairly make future water
plans. Project scientists will also share the Georgia data with
scientists doing similar research in Florida for its part of the
basin.

Most of the land in the Suwannee River basin in Georgia is used
to support the area’s large agricultural and forestry
industries, which are also its major economic drivers. Farmers
there raise peanuts, cotton, corn and other major row crops.
But, increasingly, large confined-animal farms, such as chicken
houses, are moving into the area.

Findings from the study will also help support better management
practices for farmers in the area. “Because of this, the Georgia
Cotton Commission has been a key supporter of this project,”
Vellidis said.

Funding for the Georgia project will come from federal
Agriculture Appropriations bills, said U.S. Congressman Jack
Kingston (R), whose 1st District covers much of the river basin.
There was $480,000 in the 2002 bill. There is currently $600,000
in the 2003 House bill, which will be voted on when Congress
returns in January. The House and Senate both have to pass a
bill before its final.

“The research that sustains our water supply is critical,”
Kingston said. “The Suwannee River is a national treasure.
Decisions and resource management of this interstate basin
depend on high-quality information. . . . This USDA project will
partner with UGA to provide the network and data. And it’s one
of the most sound investments we can make.