John Bennett

Members of the Coosa North Georgia Water Planning Council say they're done dipping their toes into the state water plan and are ready to dive in headfirst.

"They've really got a lot of the housekeeping out of the way, and we can really dig into what we're there for," said Dade County Water Authority director and council member Doug Anderton. "It will be a welcomed relief to get into the meat."

A meeting set for Wednesday will be the third for the water council, one of 11 regional groups in Georgia charged with drafting the state's first water plan. According to the meeting's agenda, the council will look at population and employment data, as well as demand forecasts for municipal, industrial and agricultural sectors.

"The general sentiment seems to be it's time to move past the conceptual and into the creation," said council member Charlie Bethel, director of human resources for J& J Industries in Dalton, Ga.

The council's last meeting was held before a federal judge's ruling that Atlanta must find alternative water sources to Lake Lanier within three years or risk losing much of its access to the reservoir. Mr. Bethel said the ruling may not affect the North Georgia group's planning as much as the metro Atlanta group but should stir the public's interest in the plan.

"It would be a shame for people not to be engaged with such an important resource," he said.

Council member Keith Coffey, an environmental engineer with Tandus in Dalton, said he didn't know how the ruling might affect the council, but thought it might fall to the U.S. Congress to resolve that aspect of Georgia's water problems.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure what to expect," he said.

Council vice-chairman and Walker County water coordinator David Ashburn said the Lanier decision doesn't affect the group at all because it is charged with developing a plan while the legislatures and governors of Georgia and its neighboring states must broker a water deal.

"The state of Georgia is making a plan for the state of Georgia -- period," he said.

Water Council Chairman John Bennett said everyone was "antsy" to see a final project, but ultimately the state's plan will have to include input from Alabama and Tennessee.

"You can't ignore the water uses in those states," said Mr. Bennett, city manager for Rome. "I think our horizon needs to be beyond our own little counties."