Water. The Power. The Profit. Savannah, GA 2002 

Partners:

The Savannah Morning News, Savannahnow.com
Georgia Public Radio

With the Georgia legislature expected to set statewide water policy in its 2003 session, the partners launched “Water: The Power. The Profit,” a year-long series on the Savannah River, to encourage citizen participation in the debate. 

A poll of 724 people in the seven counties around the river conducted in April and May of 2002 showed few of the residents had begun to focus on water resources and had little knowledge of the issues surrounding water availability and its impact on development and the regional economy. The Morning News launched its four-part series on Saturday, June 8, 2002, laying out the issues and inviting participation in a July 16 town hall forum. More than 60 people attended and agreed that the region needs to monitor better how much water its uses and that water management should be regional, rather than done at the state or local level. There was also an across the spectrum fear of Atlanta’s appetite for water and its possible reach into the Savannah River. The paper continued periodic packages on water issues, leading up to an October forum in which 35 people discussed regional water management issues.

Online, Savannahnow.com offered a “water use calculator” that allowed users to figure out how much water they use and to compare their use with that of users in Chatham or Effingham Counties. The Web site also solicited feedback on the series and provided links to other resources and a sign-up form for the public forums.

With its goal of amplifying citizen voices in the 2003 legislative debate, the project was set to wrap up in the spring of 2003 with a final poll to study the impact of the series itself on how much respondents knew about water resource issues.

Contact:

Dan Suwyn
Managing Editor
Savannah Morning News
PO Box 1088
Savannah, GA 31402-1088
Phone: (912) 652-0322
Email: dsuwyn@savannahnow.com