Deal, Haley to Attend Joint Water Summit in Hartwell Today

Governor Nathan Deal will join his South Carolina counterpart, along with state and local officials in Hartwell today for a Joint State Legislative Caucus at the Big Oaks Recreation Center.

The summit is designed to begin inter-state talks on how to get the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve its management of the Savannah River Basin.

In addition to Governors Nathan Deal and Nikki Haley, officials from the Georgia and South Carolina Departments of Natural Resources and Colonel Thomas J. Tickner, head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah River District will also be on hand this morning.

Georgia State Representative Alan Powell (R., 32), is hosting the event today.

Powell, who started the Georgia Savannah River Caucus earlier this year, said he hopes much will be accomplished at the one-day session.

“What we’re hoping for is what has been the original purpose of forming these caucuses and that is for the states to work together across state lines on a commonality of interests, whether it be water, whether it be natural resources, whether it be tourism, whatever affects the lives of our citizens. That’s what the goal is,” Powell said.

The summit today will culminate the signing of an agreement that authorizes a study on how the Savannah River Water Basin is currently managed.

Plans for the study have been in the works for over four years, but only recently have both State lawmakers agreed to kick in their share of the million-dollar study.

Georgia and South Carolina have each agreed to pay $250,000 for their share of the study’s cost. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will contribute another $500,000.