Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 391 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Chapter 391-3 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Subject 391-3-28 - FLINT RIVER DROUGHT PROTECTION
Rule 391-3-28-.02 - Definitions

(a) 'Acceptable Flint River basin stream flows' means the quantity of stream flows at one or more specific locations on the Flint River or its tributaries which provides for aquatic life protection and other needs as established by the director based on municipal, agricultural, industrial, and environmental needs. Such tributaries shall not include field drainage systems, wet weather ditches, or any other water body:

(b) 'Affected areas' means those specific portions of the state lying within the Flint River basin where ground-water use from the Floridan aquifer can affect stream flow or where drainage into Spring Creek, Ichawaynochaway Creek, Kinchafoonee Creek, and Muckalee Creek occurs.

(c) 'Auction certificate' refers to a certificate issued to the holder of an agricultural water use permit when the permit holder has been certified as eligible to participate in the irrigated acreage reduction auction. A permit holder wishing to offer irrigation lands under multiple agricultural withdrawal permits must have a separate auction certificate for each permit. The auction certificate will include, but not be limited to, the identity of the land owner, the agricultural withdrawal permit covered, and the amount of acres actually irrigated.

(d) 'Auction offer' for a specific permit, refers to the price-per-acre offered by the farmer as the amount of money required for the farmer to not irrigate land covered by that specific permit during the remainder of the calendar year.

(e) 'Augmentation' means the addition of ground water from one or more aquifers underlying the affected areas into a surface water channel within the affected areas for the purpose of maintaining instream flows.

(f) 'Authority' means the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority created by Chapter 23 of Title 50.

(g) 'Board' means the Board of Natural Resources.

(h) 'Candidate seller' refers to holders of an auction certificate or their representatives whose single auction offer has or multiple auction offers have been tentatively accepted during preliminary rounds of the irrigated acreage reduction auction.

(i) 'Director' means the Director of the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources.

(j) 'Division' means the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources.

(k) 'Drought protection funds' means the funds held by the Authority as provided in Code Section 12-5-545 for the accomplishment of the purposes of this article.

(l) 'Final seller' refers to candidate sellers at the end of the final round of the irrigated acreage reduction auction.

(m) 'Fixed irrigation system' means those non-portable irrigation systems that are permanently installed, anchored, or buried in place, such as center pivots (including towable center pivots), solid-set irrigation sprinklers, or drip irrigation.

(n) 'Flint River basin' means the entire area of land which drains into the Flint River or its major tributaries.

(o) 'Floridan aquifer' means those rocks and sediments described in United States Geological Survey Open File Report 95 321 (1996) that are capable of yielding ground water to wells or discharging water into the Flint River or its tributaries.

(p) 'Irrigated land' means farm land which is irrigated by ground water or surface water pursuant to a water withdrawal permit issued by the Director pursuant to Code Section 12-5-31 or 12-5-96.

(q) 'Irrigation efficiency' means the percentage of the total amount of water withdrawn from a source which is beneficially used to meet crop water requirements or for other agronomic practices in accordance with applicable best management practices.

(r) 'Irrigation reduction auction' means the procedure established by subsection (b) of Code Section 12-5-546 pursuant to which permittees submit offers to cease irrigation of a specified number of acres in exchange for a certain sum of money.

(s) 'Major tributaries' of the Flint River means those flowing rivers and streams which flow into the Flint River.

(t) 'Perennial Stream' means a stream which normally flows throughout the whole year. One way, but not necessarily the only way, of identifying perennial streams is to determine if they are shown as an unbroken blue line on the United States Geological Survey quadrangle map.

(u) 'Permit' means a valid irrigation certificate of farm use has been approved and issued by the Division, used for agricultural withdrawals from either surface water or groundwater.

(v) 'Permittee' means a person holding a valid agricultural withdrawal permit issued before December 1, 2000, pursuant to Code Section 12-5-31 or 12-5-96.

(w) 'Severe drought conditions' means any forecast condition which may result in a stream flow that is lower than the acceptable Flint River stream flow. The prediction or declaration of when severe drought conditions exist or are expected to exist during a given year shall be based on historical, mathematical, meteorological, or other scientific considerations which may be published by the director and which may be developed in consultation with the state climatologist, the state geologist, or other appropriate experts.

(x) 'Stream flow' means the quantity of water passing a given location of the Flint River or its tributaries over a given time period expressed in cubic feet per second (cfs).

(y) 'Watershed' means a smaller drainage basin associated with one of the tributaries of the Flint River, and assigned an 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code by the United States Geological Survey.