Indian Creek Reservoir and Its Regulatory Review Processes

Carroll County Water Authority of Georgia has proposed a water supply reservoir, Indian Creek Reservoir, to address its water supply needs. Indian Creek Reservoir has been under regulatory review by federal and state authorities. The regulatory review process involves a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), an associated CWA Section 401 Water Quality Certification from the state of Georgia, and a water withdrawal permit from the state of Georgia. Even though these regulatory review processes are under different legal authorities, the overall objective is consistent: addressing the needs of the applicant and eliminating or reducing negative environmental impacts. In Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD’s) water withdrawal application review, three major factors have been considered: needs, capacity of the source to provide, and downstream impacts. While the first one involves careful review of planning done by local authorities and Georgia’s Regional Planning Councils, the latter two involves modeling and other technical analyses, including biological considerations. In this case, biological consideration involved detailed modeling by Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) on fishery responses to the reservoir’s mode of operation. This consideration resulted in the first instance of a set of monthly varying pumping limitations at the reservoir’s refilling intake. The comprehensive approach also benefited regulatory processes under CWA Sections 401 and 404, including a neighboring jurisdiction determination that ultimately gave green light to the proposed reservoir project.