Water and growth were the issues addressed by City Manager John Bennett during Friday’s meeting of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee.

Romans have complained for years about losing water through interbasin transfers that benefit north metro communities.

Bennett’s message Friday was ‘get used to it.’ He said two-thirds of the counties in Georgia lie in multiple water basins. “Just about every county north of Atlanta in the Chattahoochee basin is in more than one basin,” Bennett said.

The city manager chairs the 18 county Coosa-North Georgia Regional Water Council. Bennett pointed out only half of those 18 counties lie entirely within the Coosa River drainage basin. Five counties sit entirely within the Tennessee River basin, three are entirely within the Chattahoochee basin and two others are split between different basins. “Interbasin transfers are just a way of life,” Bennett said.

Tennessee Valley Authority officials addressed the water council recently and estimated an additional 250 million gallons per day could be withdrawn from the Tennessee near Chattanooga and it would not have a significant impact on the river. “Remember, that was a TVA person, not someone (public official) from the state of Tennessee,” Bennett cautioned.

Official state population projections into the year 2030 indicate metro Atlanta is going to continue to experience the greatest population growth. Consequently, the bulk of the state’s water planning is going to be directed toward meeting Atlanta’s needs.

Floyd County’s population is projected to grow by 21 percent, compared to 82 percent growth in Bartow County, 92 percent in Paulding County, even 45 percent in Gordon County.

The granddaddy of the state’s water planning districts is the 15 county Metro North Georgia district. “Whatever they say is going to trump whatever we do no matter what we say,” Bennett said.

The city manager suggested the development of major off-stream reservoirs might be one of the best answers to Georgia’s water problems, which were exacerbated during the drought period from 2006-2008.

Asked if the lame duck governors of Georgia and Alabama had incentives to settle the long running water war, Bennett said, “The incentive would be everybody likes to go out a winner.”