SR584: SR584 State-wide Water Management Plan; ratify amendments

Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 12-5-525) requires the General Assembly to approve, or 'ratify', the state-wide water management plan and any changes to it before those changes carry legal weight. The original plan was adopted by the Water Council in 2008 and ratified by the legislature that year. This resolution ratifies a new round of amendments. The Water Council reconvened in September 2025 to consider changes, adopted them on December 9, 2025, and submitted them to the General Assembly on January 12, 2026. The resolution states that the amended plan will have legal force, but that if any part of it conflicts with an existing or future state law, the law takes priority. It would take effect once the Governor signs it or it becomes law without his signature.

• Ratifies the amendments to the comprehensive state-wide water management plan adopted by the Water Council on December 9, 2025.
• Gives the amended, nonstatutory plan legal force and effect once ratified.
• Establishes that any statute passed by the General Assembly, now or later, overrides the plan wherever the two conflict.
• Sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the resolution or the date it becomes law without his signature.
• Repeals any prior laws that conflict with this resolution.

The resolution directly affects the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources, the Water Council, and state agencies that rely on the water management plan. It indirectly affects Georgians and industries whose water use is governed by the plan's guidance, including utilities, agriculture, and local governments.

Because the plan only carries legal weight once ratified under O.C.G.A. § 12-5-525, this resolution is the step that makes the December 2025 amendments official. Until ratified, water management decisions across Georgia would rely on the older 2008 plan rather than the updated version.

• Paragraph (1) ratifies the specific amendments adopted by the Water Council on December 9, 2025 and filed with the Environmental Protection Division.
• Paragraph (2) states the amended plan is nonstatutory but shall have force and effect.
• Paragraph (3) subordinates the plan to any current or future statute in case of irreconcilable conflict.
• Paragraph (4) sets the effective date as approval by the Governor or becoming law without his signature.
• Paragraph (5) repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-01-21Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)Primary sponsor
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)

• water management
• natural resources policy
• Environmental Protection Division
• state water plan