October 24, 2025
Meeting Summary: Altamaha Council June 24, 2025
Meeting Summary
Altamaha Regional Water Planning Council Southeastern Technical College – Economic Development Center
Vidalia, GA June 24, 2025
Welcome
Council Chair Ed Jeffords called the meeting to order at 10am and thanked participants for attending. Following an invocation by Council member Rex Bullock, Council members and observers introduced themselves. Chairman Jeffords noted that he was encouraged by the attendance at the meeting and reinforced the importance of water planning at the local and regional level. He then reminded the group of the Council’s Vision Statement before introducing Mark Masters from the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center (GWPPC) to review the meeting agenda.
Council Orientation and GWPPC Update
Mark Masters (GWPPC) introduced himself along with his colleague Megan Stanely as the new support team for the Altamaha Council. He provided a brief overview of the GWPPC noting that, while headquartered at Albany State University in Southwest Georgia, the team has members located throughout Georgia with expertise in a variety of disciplines related to water management. The GWPPC has served as the primary support team for the Lower-Flint- Ochlockonee, Upper Flint and Middle Chattahoochee Councils since regional planning began in 2009 and is excited to be supporting all ten Councils across Georgia as the next round of planning gets underway.
- Chairman Jeffords noted the GWPPC’s involvement in other aspects of water planning throughout Georgia and suggested having a single support team across all planning councils was a good approach.
Noting that the Altamaha Council has several new appointees, Mark provided a refresher on the regional water planning process and timeline for the fourth iteration of planning scheduled to be complete in 2028 including opportunities to meet jointly with neighboring councils.
During the presentation, Mark reinforced the importance of the Council’s work through informing the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (GAEPD) permitting and management of water in the region as well as serving as an “incubator” for emerging ideas through the seed grant program or other opportunities. He offered a few examples of significant advances in water management across Georgia that originated through regional water planning council discussion and support.
- Chairman Jeffords offered that councils in South Georgia are connected by surface and groundwater and expressed support for joint council meetings.
- Council Vice Chair Paul Stavriotis also expressed support for joint council meetings and noted that the Altamaha and Coastal Councils met together many years ago.
Next, the Council took a few minutes to formally review their Vision Statement. Several members spoke in support of the existing language, and the Council approved retaining the current Vision Statement by consensus.
“The vision of the Altamaha Regional Water Planning Council is to wisely manage, develop, and protect the region’s water resources for current and future generations by ensuring that the Altamaha basin’s water resources are sustainably managed to enhance quality of life and public health, protect natural systems including fishing, wildlife and wildlife utilization activities, and support the basin’s economy.”
GAEPD Update
Mr. Clete Barton (GAEPD) introduced himself and the Regional Water Planning Unit staff members including Unit Manager, Mr. Russell Nix, and his team, Mr. Tim Fields and Ms. Parris Maguire. Clete also noted that Dr. Anna Truszczynski has been promoted to Deputy Director of GAEPD and there is currently a vacancy for Watershed Protection Branch Chief. Mr. Barton then provided an update on the contract with the GWPPC, which will now be taking the lead on working with the Regional Water Planning Councils through the next plan update in 2028. Mr. Barton also updated the Council on appointments. He encouraged current members to suggest new members and urged stakeholders in the room to consider nominations for appointments. He added that GAEPD is working on the lists of individuals for appointments but does not formally make the appointments, as those are made by the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker of the House.
- Chairman Jeffords commented that many of the Council’s existing members have either passed away, moved or are no longer interested in serving. Several members noted that they have names of potential Council appointees. Mark noted that the Council will review the existing list and capture contact information of possible new members during the work session after lunch.
Finally, Clete gave an update on seed grants in the Altamaha Council region. He reported on a single seed grant to the University of Georgia related to education and outreach on proper septic system maintenance and management. Dr. Gary Hawkins (UGA) provided a brief summary of the grant including opportunities to host the workshops planned for September/October 2025 and January/February 2026.
- Chairman Jeffords said the Council will explore possible locations and coordinate with Dr. Hawkins in the coming weeks.
Panel: Challenges and Opportunities with Septic Management, Receiving and Hauling
Mark Masters reminded the Council of data related to septic use as well as septic management practices included in their 2023 Regional Water Plan. He noted that approximately 9% of the wastewater in the Altamaha Council area is managed via septic systems and that, during the last round of planning, this percentage was forecast to remain largely unchanged through 2060. Mark then introduced the panel including:
- Patrick Martin, Director of Environmental Services at the City of Jesup
- Rachel Templeman, Environmental Health Director with the Department of Public Health’s South Central District (DPH)
- Lance Woods, Owner of Ocmulgee Septic and Sewer
Following some additional self-introductions, Mark asked the panelists a series of questions aimed at highlighting areas of concern around septic management from a variety of viewpoints. Over-arching topics and outcomes from the discussion were:
- Certain areas are seeing significant population growth that is putting pressure on existing infrastructure, including septic.
- A significant amount of new development, even within and near municipalities, is occurring on septic given the expense of accessing central sewer.
- Vice Chairman Stavriotis noted a lot of “spillover effects” of increased population serving the industrial growth in the Coastal region. He commented that the tax revenue in the neighboring areas is not sufficient to meet the increased demands on infrastructure.
- Council member Cleve Edenfield noted that many of the municipalities are experiencing “growing pains” specific to water delivery and waste disposal. Other members commented that many rural municipalities do not have the tax base necessary to make infrastructure improvements.
- Several members expressed some skepticism with the population-based water and wastewater demand projections in the 2023 Plan. A member commented that Covid fundamentally changed population dynamics in rural areas and that projections made prior to 2020 may be largely “irrelevant.” Mark noted that population forecasts for the upcoming Plan review and revision would be a primary topic of the upcoming joint council meeting on September 24. He also directed members to the Georgia Water Planning YouTube page were they could see the recent webinar hosted by GWPPC where UGA presented the methodologies guiding the upcoming population forecasts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlVgnM2-H3E).
- The Council and panel discussed the region’s capacity for handling existing septage and increases that may occur from population growth.
- There are a limited number of treatment plants that accept waste from septic systems. In the DPH South Central region and neighboring counties, these include Jesup, Cochran, Dublin and Cordele. The City of Jesup does not currently limit the amount of waste from septic brought to their treatment plant while the City of Cochran only allows one private company to discharge at their facility.
- Council members requested additional information specific to this topic be provided at future meetings and suggested new management practices may be needed for the forthcoming plan update.
- Finally, the Council acknowledged that educating homeowners on proper septic maintenance remains a priority.
- Overall, septic systems don’t have the same useful life based largely on comparatively excessive water use and introducing harmful items into the systems such as grease and “flushable” materials that aren’t septic-friendly.
- Public education campaigns, including the City of Jesup’s “Did You Know” have been helpful in educating the general public on water use and a similar program could be useful for septic system owners.
- Many residents do not routinely maintain their systems but rather wait until a problem occurs. This will likely lead to a spike in septage treatment in 15-20 years based on recent and forecast growth of septic use.
- Dr. Hawkins (UGA) noted the planned work of his seed grant to help address homeowner education and reiterated his willingness to coordinate with the Council.
Lunch Break
Water Quality Through Forestry Best Management Practices
Jay Foskey with the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) provided an overview of Best Management Practice (BMP) data collected by the GFC through biennial surveys since 1991. He offered that the survey is designed to identify sites with a high Water Quality Risk (WQR). Jay noted that 266 sites were surveyed in 2023 with an overall BMP implementation of 96.81%, a record-high score in the State of Georgia. Jay also provided additional information on large- scale solar projects and discussed the jurisdictional differences between GFC BMPs and Georgia’s Erosion and Sedimentation Act. He also provided some specific BMP guidance related to storm damage such as the widespread impacts to forestry from Hurricane Helene. Finally, Jay noted that GFC is interested in additional survey locations, specifically in the Altamaha Regional Water Council planning region, and expressed an interest in coordinating with the Council moving forward.
Planning Discussion – Topics of Interest, Council Appointments and Next Steps
Chairman Ed Jeffords led a detailed review of the existing Altamaha Council membership. Information was captured by GWPPC support staff noting members that have passed or moved away, as well as those that have specifically requested to be removed from the Council.
Members were also asked to provide names and contact information of individuals that have an interest in serving on the Council. All this information was collected by the GWPPC team and provided to GAEPD in order to update the existing membership list and inform their support of the on-going appointment process.
Council members discussed topics for upcoming meetings and reiterated their interest in the population forecasts that will be developed to support the pending plan revision as well as revisiting the discussion of septic use and waste disposal in the region. Concerning meeting locations, members agreed that it is generally informative to move the meetings throughout the region while being mindful of travel. Council member Phillip Jennings offered to host a future meeting near Soperton.
Mark Masters then reminded members of the upcoming joint council meeting with the Lower Flint-Ochlockonee and Suwannee-Satilla Councils scheduled for September 24 at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture in Tifton. He also reminded the group that all the slides and materials used in the meeting will be available at https://waterplanning.georgia.gov.
Public Comment
Maggie Van Cantfort (Altamaha Riverkeeper) thanked the Council members for their work and noted significant overlap in the topics discussed in the meeting and priorities for the Altamaha
Riverkeeper. Specifically, she expressed the Riverkeeper’s attention on:
- the need for additional data on septic use and water withdrawals from privates wells;
- development of a new biomass power plant, Altamaha Green Energy, in Jesup;
- Southern Nuclear Operating Company’s application to extend the operating license at Plant Hatch in Baxley;
- the need for additional zoning, or zoning oversight, in rural counties.
Adjourn
Chairman Jeffords thanked everyone for their attendance and participation and adjourned the meeting at 1:40pm.
Guy “Rex” Bullock
Billy Yeomans
John Bennett (UGA Extension)
Jay Foskey (GFC)
Gary Hawkins (UGA)*
Sherin Joshua (UGA)*
Patrick Martin (City of Jesup)
Monte Powell (Rayonier)
Rachel Templeman (South Central DHS)
Maggie Van Cantfort (Altamaha Riverkeeper)
Steve Walker (GA Rural Water Assoc.)
Lance Woods (Ocmulgee Septic)
*By videoconference
Council Support
Mark Masters (GWPPC)
Megan Stanley (GWPPC)
Clete Barton (GAEPD)
Timothy Fields (GAEPD)
Parris Maguire (GAEPD)
Russell Nix (GAEPD)