Conservation of Dawson Forest

Travel some 50 miles north of Atlanta, where the city's sprawling suburbs finally subside, and you'll find Dawson Forest. It's a lovely place, complete with babbling brooks, singing birds, and thick, towering tree canopies.

But the tranquil, Dawson County setting belies a fierce fight taking place behind the scenes for control of the 10,000-acre property, which has been owned by the city of Atlanta since the early 1970s as the site of a possible second airport.

As metro Atlanta faces the prospect of losing the ability to tap Lake Lanier for its drinking water amid the tri-state Water Wars., water sources are at a premium. As a result, two development groups are angling to partner with the city to damn Shoal Creek, an important body of water that feeds the Etowah River basin, to create a 2,000-acre reservoir.

By signing this petition, you are participating in the Georgia Conservancy's effort to oppose the construction of this reservoir, which poses a number of dangers:
The project would permanently flood 2,000 acres of pristine woods
Damming the creek would further complicate the ongoing legal dispute over water resources taking place among Georgia, Alabama and Florida in the tri-state Water Wars
In order to pipe the water toward Atlanta, a massive transfer of water from the Etowah River basin to the Chattahoochee River basin would have to take place, which would endanger our natural resources and possibly cause economic harm
The project threatens two federally protected species of fish- the Etowah and Cherokee darters, which live in the Etowah River basin and nowhere else in the world
The proposed withdrawal of 100 million gallons a day from the reservoir would greatly stress the Etowah River at Shoal Creek, consuming almost all of the rivers volume during the dry season
During the Cold War, Lockheed used Dawson Forest to test nuclear-powered aircraft, and its possible that some radiation could make its way into the new water supply

In short, the Conservancy believes that we need to expand existing reservoirs to their full capacity before we build now ones. And if we are going to build new reservoirs, we have to make sure they are off the main stem of a river and make sure there are no interbasin water transfers involved, says Will Wingate, the Georgia Conservancys vice president of advocacy.

By signing this petition, you will help put weight behind the Georgia Conservancys effort to stop the project when lobbying in the capital.

Please help support the effort to keep Dawson Forest, a critical natural resource for our state, pristine.