Powers and Duties of Department

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Conservation and Natural Resources
4. Water Resources
5. Rivers and River Basins
6. Development of Altamaha River Basin
7. Powers and Duties of Department

1. In carrying out its purposes under this part, the department shall have the following powers:
   1. To administer all funds available to the department under this part;
   2. To accept or decline any grant of funds made by the United States government or any agency thereof for the purpose of carrying out any of its functions under this part;
   3. To accept or decline gifts, bequests, devises, and endowments to be used in carrying out the purposes of this part;
   4. To act either independently or jointly with any other state department or with any commission, board, or institution of the state in order to carry out its powers and duties under this part;
   5. To request from the various state departments, other agencies and authorities of the state and the political subdivisions of the state and their agencies and authorities such available information as it may require in its work. All such agencies and authorities shall, where practical, within a reasonable time furnish such requested available information to the department;
   6. To make such recommendations and reports to the Governor and to the General Assembly as it deems necessary or advisable, in addition to the annual report required as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section;
   7. To contract with political subdivisions of the State of Georgia and with private persons and corporations pursuant to its functions under this part;
   8. To do all other things necessary and proper to exercise its powers and perform its duties to effectuate the purposes of this part.
2. The department shall have the following duties under this part:
   1. To formulate, in cooperation with other state agencies, agencies of the United States government, and interested organizations and citizens of the State of Georgia, a comprehensive program and plan for the development of the Altamaha River Basin;
   2. To submit an annual report of its activities under this part and recommendations to the Governor and to notify the members of the General Assembly of the availability of the annual report and recommendations in the manner which it deems to be most effective and efficient.

(Ga. L. 1970, p. 632, §§ 4, 6; Ga. L. 1972, p. 1015, § 1506; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1036, § 8/SB 49.)

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, a semicolon was substituted for a period at the end of paragraph (a)(6).

PART 6 PROTECTION OF METROPOLITAN RIVERS

Cross references.

- State-wide water management planning, T. 12, C. 5, A. 8.

Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, T. 12, C. 5, A. 10.

Population bills, § 28-1-15.

Editor's notes.

- Several of the Code sections in this part are based on Ga. L. 1973, p. 128 and Ga. L. 1975, p. 837, which Acts were not codified in the legislative edition of the O.C.G.A.

Law reviews.

- For survey article on environment, natural resources, and land use, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 145 (1982). For annual survey of law on environment, natural resources, and land use, see 35 Mercer L. Rev. 147 (1983). For article, "Hazardous Waste Issues in Real Estate Transactions," see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 581 (1987). For a note discussing the historical aspects and current law concerning the state's ownership rights in tidelands, see 17 Ga. L. Rev. 851 (1983).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Constitutionality.

- This part did not constitute zoning within the definition set out in Ga. Const. 1976, Art. IX, Sec. IV, Para. II (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. II, Para. IV) but instead fell within the reserved powers of the state to act, along with local governing authorities, with regard to the city water system, and was, therefore, constitutional. Pope v. City of Atlanta, 240 Ga. 177, 240 S.E.2d 241 (1977) (see O.C.G.A. T. 12, Ch. 5, Art. 5, Pt. 6).

This part and the Chattahoochee Corridor Study, authorized by this part and adopted by the City of Atlanta, were found not to violate the Constitution of the State of Georgia. Pope v. City of Atlanta, 242 Ga. 331, 249 S.E.2d 16 (1978) (see O.C.G.A. T. 12, Ch. 5, Art. 5, Pt. 6).

Failure to show plan covered by act.

- In a drainage dispute involving neighbors, the trial court properly granted the defendants a directed verdict on the plaintiffs' claim asserting a violation of the Metropolitan River Protection Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-5-440 et seq., because the plaintiffs presented no evidence regarding whether a land and water use plan had been adopted by a regional commission covering the area of the river at issue or the requirements under such a plan. Kohler v. Van Peteghem, 330 Ga. App. 230, 767 S.E.2d 775 (2014), overruled on other grounds by Lee v. Smith, 307 Ga. 815, 838 S.E.2d 870 (2020).

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