Franklin County Stalled on New Well Water Policy

It could be some weeks before efforts to work out a policy for how private water wells are adopted and used by Franklin County.

At their work session last week, Franklin County Board of Commissioners spent a half hour discussing the existing policy and whether it should be amended.

Commissioner Clint Harper has requested a new policy after noting that a water well in the southern part of the county had not been brought online since it was offered to the county in 2008 while last month, the board was ready to accept another well on Stone Bridge Road in the northern part of the county.

Currently, the county has contracted with three property owners to buy water from their wells in addition to the water the county purchases from the City of Toccoa.

Last Thursday, Franklin County Engineer John Phillips explained at length to the board the process the county goes through to bring a water well into the system.

Phillips said in order to bring a well into the county water system, both the county and the property owner  must go through a lengthy permitting and testing process with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

But right now, he said, the State will likely not approve any more new water wells for Franklin County.

“The reason is, we sell about a half-million gallons of water per day and our permit for ground water is 1.5 million gallons per day,” Phillips said. “That’s three times the amount we’re selling. Right now, we have the capability to produce a lot more than we’re selling.”

Commissioner Harper said though, he wants a policy in place that assures any new wells brought online will not be overlooked.

But Water Department Superintendent Bob White said determining which water well to use has more to do with how much water is needed where.

“What I have to look at, is how am I going to mix this water and this water together. What I try to do is juggle my lowest producing water well, which runs a lot, with my other two (wells) to get my (water) tank level where it needs to be,” he said.

Commissioner Jeff Jacques agreed and said he’s concerned any new policy would be a more of a detriment.

“I don’t want to adopt a policy that takes the discretion and latitude that our county employees have,” Jacques said. “We’ve got to have the trust and confidence  that they’re doing the right thing in as equitable a distribution as they possibly can.”

After more discussion, commission chair Tom Bridges asked the county to continue working on a new water well policy, which will be taken up at a future meeting.