The first Monday in May of each year is designated as "Water Professionals Appreciation Day" in Georgia.
(Code 1981, §1-4-22, enacted by Ga. L. 2015, p. 108, § 2/SB 119.)
Editor's notes.- Ga. L. 2015, p. 108, § 1/SB119, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly finds that:
"(1) The Georgia Water Quality Control Act was passed by the Georgia General Assembly and signed into law in 1964 by Governor Carl Sanders;
"(2) At that time, there were 25 communities in Georgia which had no public sewer systems, 40 communities with a sewer system but no treatment facilities, 60 communities with a sewer system but only primary treatment facilities, 50 communities with a sewer system and secondary treatment facilities which were in need of improvement, and 395 industries which had documented untreated or inadequately treated discharges to Georgia's surface waters;
"(3) At the time of passage of the Act, many of Georgia's surface waters were extremely polluted, and serious water quality problems existed all over the State of Georgia;
"(4) The state established the Georgia Water Quality Control Board (later reconstituted as the Georgia Environmental Protection Division as a result of the 1972 Reorganization of State Government under Governor Jimmy Carter), and Governor Sanders appointed R.S. 'Rock' Howard to be the board's executive secretary;
"(5) By the time the Federal Water Quality Control Act was passed in 1972, most of Georgia's industries had been brought into compliance with the initial requirements of the federal Act;
"(6) Over the ensuing four decades, billions of federal, state, and local dollars have been invested in planning, designing, and constructing modern publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities throughout this state;
"(7) Georgia's water professionals are committed to operating these facilities to maintain consistent compliance with extremely stringent standards;
"(8) Both publicly and privately owned facilities have performed so well that they are no longer the most significant threat to Georgia's waters;
"(9) The quality of Georgia's waters has improved dramatically throughout this great state over the years since the passage of the original Act;
"(10) It is imperative that these improvements be sustained while continuing our efforts to educate Georgians of their growing responsibility in the reduction of non-point sources of pollution to Georgia's waters;
"(11) The success that we have experienced thus far and the success that we will have is due to the tremendous dedication and efforts of Georgia's water professionals; and
"(12) It is fitting and proper that these individuals and their efforts be appropriately recognized."