Georiga Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey General Interest Publication 4
 The Flint River Drought Protection Act of 2001 authorizes compensation to farmers for removing agricultural acreage from irrigation during a severe drought year. |
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 WILL DROUGHT BE DECLARED ON MARCH 1? Each March 1st, as long as this legislation is in effect, the Director of the GaEPD must announce whether or not drought conditions exist.  |
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| Information used to make drought decision: • Water levels in nine USGS monitoring wells open to the Upper Floridan aquifer, • Flow data from five USGS streamgaging stations in the lower Flint River Basin, and • Precipitation forecast from The University of Georgia environmental monitoring network. |
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NO—farmers are allowed to irrigate using streams that flow year-round.
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 YES—an auction is held allowing all eligible farmers to bid voluntarily on a price per acre basis for acreage they are willing to refrain from irrigating. Starting with lowest, bids are accepted until target acres have been removed (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, 2001). |
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| YES—“non-voluntary irrigation acreage reduction” begins with the most recent permit issued and continues with the next most “junior in time” permits (“last-in, first-out” or LIFO). These permit owners would be required, in LIFO order, to forgo use of their water permit at a price per acre equal to the average price paid in the voluntary auction (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, 2001). | ||
The Flint River Drought Protection Act was enacted to better manage the water resources of Georgia during periods of drought. A drought was declared on March 1, 2001, and an irrigated-acreage auction was held. The result was to voluntarily eliminate, for the balance of 2001, surface-water irrigation on 33,101 acres at an average accepted bid of $135 per acre. A drought also was declared for the 2002 growing season, and 40,894 acres were voluntarily removed from irrigation. The average 2002 bid was $128 per acre (Flint River Regional Water Council, Inc., 2002; McDowell, 2002). No drought was declared for 2003 or 2004.
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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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