What is the Soil and Water Conservation Commission?

Many voters may not know much about the Commission, but it serves an increasingly vital role in our quickly growing area as it was formed to protect, conserve and improve the soil and water resources of Georgia. The Commission comprises 40 Soil & Water Conservation Districts in the 159 counties and each county has at least two supervisors on their District Board of Supervisors.

The District’s Responsibilities

The Upper Chattahoochee River District includes 5 counties: Forsyth, Dawson, Haversham, Lumpkin, and White. Historically, the counties have been heavily agricultural and as a result, the District focused on farming and rural issues.

The District also reviews and approves soil erosion control plans needed for development of residential parcels, an urgent responsibility in our rapidly growing area.

Since its inception our district has and continues to be supervised exclusively by farmers and has focused on the needs of farmers. These supervisors are excellent representatives of the agricultural industry but they do not represent the reality of Forsyth County in its entirety.

Only about 10% of Forsyth County land is farmland.  The majority of our land is residential, commercial and industrial.  The District must expand its membership to include skills like mine to look at the conservation needs and education needs of the entire county.  My opponent is a strong agricultural expert but the District needs to embrace a perspective that looks at all of the counties needs.  For example, currently there are no programs for educating HOAs on how to maintain storm water detention basins. Other Districts have evolved but Forsyth and the Upper Chattahoochee River District has not.  That is why I am running. 

More information is available from the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. SWCC Website