The statement

was affirmed by all of the commisisoners.

Coweta County

knows the severity of the current water situation that has been caused

efforts have been taken by the county to acquire additional water resources

to supplement current supplies.

While we cannot

do anything about the drought situation, we have been doing everything

we can to supplement water supplies and look at emergency water sources

to ensure our citizens have adequate water. We do not feel that we should

cause unnecessary fear about a basic necessity of life.

Coweta County

has cooperated with Newnan Utilities on all water bans made necessary

Coweta County

has been planning for medium and long-term water supplies and has handled

a request for short-term water supply. When Newnan Utilities indicated

that a short-term water supply would be needed by the summer of 2001,

the county acquired a minimum of 3 million gallons per day up to a maximum

of 15 million gallons per day from the Atlanta Water System.

The lines for

the short-term water solution are planned for completion by July 1st.

However, every effort will be made to speed up the time frame for completion

of this project

What planning

has gone into the acquisition of additional water for our county? Well,

we have been working with Fayette County for additional water supplies

and we have a contract with the City of Griffin for 5-10 million gallons

per day by the year 2004. The B.T. Brown Project is scheduled to provide

4 million gallons per day initially in 2003 with the potential of 8 million

gallons per day with the addition of ground water resources. The water

from the Atlanta Water System will be phased in through 2005.

Dennis McEntire,

General Manager of Newnan Utilities, has stated that the public understands

the need for water restrictions because of a drought, but would not understand

the need for water restrictions because of poor planning.

Let's look

at that a moment. As I have mentioned, Coweta County has been planning

to supplement current water supplies to ensure adequate water for our

citizens. Coweta County has been working with other entities to acquire

additional water supplies, Coweta County has been working to bring B.T.

Brown Project on line when feasible to do so. The B.T. Brown Reservoir

was planned years ago by Coweta County as a water source for our county.

The county

has agreed to work with Newnan Utilities to acquire a long-term water

supply from West Point Lake. Coweta County and Newnan Utilities have met

a number of times to discuss the water situation, but no physical actions

have been taken by Newnan Utilities to increase its water supply. It should

be noted that Coweta County is a customer of Newnan Utilities; Newnan

Utilities is the current water supplier for our area.

In a 1995 article

in the Newnan Times-Herald, Mr. McEntire stated that no one should worry

because there was enough water and pumping capacity to serve everyone

for at least 10 years.

In 1999, Mr.

McEntire noted in a letter that the excess capacity in the Newnan system

should last close to 5 years. In a 1997 memorandum issued by a consultant

hired by the Newnan Water, Sewerage and Light Commission and paid for

in a long range water management study and noted that the trend followed

a high growth scenario.

Franz stated

that should these trends continue, current raw water supply and treatment

capacities would last into the year 2002. In an October 1999 meeting Mr.

Franz did indicate that problems may occur in the summer of 2001, but

in a November 1999 meeting, Newnan Utilities expressed concerns that capacity

could be exceeded by the year 2004.

Joint planning

documents have indicated that additional water resources would be needed

in 2002, 2004 and 2005. The differences in these numbers and dates can

only mean that the drought is the major factor in the decreased water

supplies in our area. A drought that is one of the most severe ever seen

in our county, a drought that has affected the entire state and a drought

that has resulted in exaggerated average day and peak day numbers for

water use in Newnan and Coweta County.

Newnan Utilities

has committed to supply Coweta County with up to 5.8 million gallons per

day through the year 2004. That commitment has been the basis for the

county's plan for supplementing water supplies.

Newnan Utilities

states that its water system almost peaked capacity in May of this year.

It should be noted that this was a one-day event and at that time there

were no water restrictions in place to reduce the amount of water used.

Since restrictions

have been in place, Coweta County water customers have reduced their water

use by an average of 39%. Additional restrictions are expected to reduce

usage even more, resulting in lower peak demand.

It is likely

that the drought will still be affecting Coweta County well into the year

2001 because right now we need almost eight inches of rain to alleviate

the drought conditions. Therefore; water use restrictions, which are the

result of the drought, should be continued well into 2001 as a matter

of good water system management, thus lowering peak demand.

It is absurd

to state that Coweta County does not know the severity of the water situation

in our county. It is also absurd to say that there has been a lack of

planning by the county for providing future water resources.

There has been

continued joint planning between the County and Newnan Utilities and your

Board of Commissioners has made sure vital water negotiations with Fayette

County have continued, that a contract has been signed with the City of

Griffin for 5-10 million gallons of water per day, that the county will

receive up to 15 million gallons of water per day from the Atlanta Water

System and that the B.T. Brown Project is ready to supply from 4 to 8

million gallons of water per day.

Your Board

of Commissioners wants to assure everyone that we have been planning and

will continue