Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024
(1) Funding.
Funds available to the Commission to provide water-measuring devices for the Ag Measurement Program shall be as appropriated or otherwise made available to the Commission. The Commission is authorized under O.C.G.A. §
2-6-27 to receive and accept grant funding from outside sources and disperse same in support of soil and water conservation activities.
(2) Education and Public Awareness Efforts for the Ag Measurement Program.
Water-use measuring devices such as flow meters are common in some areas of the U.S. as a component of irrigation management practices, but the Commission has determined that a significant number of irrigators in Georgia may lack adequate knowledge and understanding of meters and how they might be used. Accordingly the Commission has determined the need for conducting an educational program for farmers and others regarding the implications of metering, potential farm management improvements that can result from measuring water-use, and the critical need for measuring agricultural water-use for Georgia. To this end, the Director shall cause basic information to be distributed and insure appropriate announcements will be provided to the public.
(3) Data Management Plan.
(a) General Guidelines. The ultimate goal of the Ag Measurement Program is generating useful data on water-use by farmers. HB579 states that "the State Soil and Water Conservation Commission shall on behalf of the State purchase, install, operate, and maintain water-measuring devices.". Data collected from this program is intended to contribute to the sound-science initiative, and provide information to EPD on how much water farmers use on a crop-by-crop basis, and in each river basin. Protocols will be established to ensure that information is accurately recorded, compiled, analyzed, and summarized.
(b) Frequency of Meter Readings. The Commission will read meters annually or cause such meters to be read annually (or otherwise collect data from such meters) or more frequently in the discretion of the Commission. Commission personnel shall have the authority to enter the property where a meter has been installed.
(4) Quality Assurance and Quality Control.
(a) Meter Accuracy and Meter Testing - The Commission shall determine acceptable margins of error in measurement as to the accuracy of meters and include such standards in the Commission's Technical Specifications and Procedures for Ag Measurement Program in accordance with Rule 600-7-1-.05(6). In order to determine meter accuracy, each year the Director may select an appropriate sampling of measuring devices in each area to test for accuracy. The selected meters will be delivered to a certified testing facility for accuracy verification and necessary recalibrations to meet or exceed the Commission's and the manufacturer's specifications for which it is designed.
(b) Meter Tampering. It shall be unlawful for any person to willingly injure, alter, remove, reset, adjust, manipulate, obstruct, or in any manner interfere with or tamper with any measuring device for the purpose or with the intent to produce an incorrect, inaccurate, or misleading measurement, or to cause, procure or direct any other person to do so.
(5) Coordination with EPD.
(a) Purposes. EPD currently maintains a comprehensive permit database in Microsoft Access. This database software allows quick data queries that can be based on EPD permit number, county, river basin, and permit type (e.g. ground water or surface water). EPD's agricultural irrigated acreage GIS database is in ArcView GIS 3.2 and ArcInfo 8.1.1 software. This database contains spatial data such as irrigated acreage, well and pump coordinates, river basin, county, etc. It can be linked to the permit database by referencing permit numbers. The Commission acknowledges the importance of efforts to maintain these EPD databases (and subsequent modifications) as accurate as possible, and as such will assist EPD in updating such information.
(6) Specific Technical Specifications and Procedures for Ag Measurement Program.
(a) The Commission acknowledges that the multi-year Ag Measurement Program will involve ongoing refinement, benchmarking, milestones and evaluation which will necessitate the ongoing revision of the specific technical specification and procedures for measuring agricultural water withdrawals. Accordingly, the Commission determines that it is most efficient and appropriate to allow the Director, in consultation with the Director of EPD, to periodically develop appropriate technical specifications and procedures, including but not limited to measuring device specifications, installation specifications, contractor specifications, quality assurance and quality control specifications, and other specifications and procedures (collectively "the Ag Measurement Program Technical Specifications and Procedures").
(b) The initial Ag Measurement Program Technical Specifications and Procedures are hereby approved by the Commission and are appended to the Commission Rules which are approved for the Ag Measurement Program. Said Ag Measurement Program Technical Specifications and Procedures may be revised and refined by the Director, on a periodic basis so long as such Ag Measurement Program Technical Specifications and Procedures are consistent with such Commission Rules. As the Ag Measurement Program and Technical Specifications and Procedures are revised by the Director, the Director shall provide such revisions to all members of the Commission at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of such revisions, and shall thereafter make such revised Technical Specifications and Procedures available to the public.
(7) No Liability.
(a) The Commission and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts assume no liability for any activities associated with the Ag Measurement Program.
(b) Risk Management. The Commission designates the Georgia Department of Administrative Services as its risk management agent for purposes of these Rules.
O.C.G.A. Sec. 2-6-20.
