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Lake groups annual meeting set for Tuesday
Former EPD director to speak to 1071 Coalition
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The 1071 Coalition is pressing ahead with its second annual meeting Tuesday at Lake Lanier Islands despite a last-minute shuffle in keynote speakers.

Carol A. Couch, who led the state’s Environmental Protection Division, resigned Monday to teach in the University of Georgia’s College of Environment and Design.

Before her resignation, Couch was Georgia’s chief negotiator in water-sharing talks with Florida and Alabama.

Former EPD director Harold Reheis is taking her place and, according to the 1071 Coalition’s October newsletter, is "expected to discuss Georgia’s response to U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson’s decision that water supply is an illegal use of Lake Lanier."

The Minnesota judge’s July ruling gives Georgia three years to come up with a water-sharing plan with Alabama and Florida, stop using the reservoir for water consumption or have Congress reauthorize the lake’s use.

The ruling doesn’t block but would severely restrict Hall County’s reliance on Lanier.

Reheis, who led the EPD from 1991 to 2003, now is senior vice president of Atlanta-based Joe Tanner & Associates, a consultant firm specializing in governmental affairs, communications and business.

Tuesday’s meeting, which is open to the public at no charge, will take place at the Legacy Lodge and Conference Center. It is set to start at 6 p.m.

Attendees also will hear about progress made by the 1071 Coalition since it launched about a year ago.

The group was founded while Georgia was locked in a drought and Lake Lanier levels were dropping. Its mission was to ensure that future management practices would keep Lanier full once it reached that level again, which it did Oct. 14.

The lake’s level currently sits at 1,071.58 feet above sea level, more than six inches above full.

"Thanks to the support of nearly 200 members including residents, businesses and government partners, the 1071 Coalition has held a seat at the table for every major discussion of water supply management over the last 12 months," said Alex Laidlaw, the group’s president and vice president of Westrec Marinas.

"Though the recent heavy rains brought Lake Lanier up to full pool, we need to address the need for improved long-term management," he said.

"Hopefully a science-based update of the (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’) Water Control Manual will be one positive consequence of the pending resolution to the tri-state water wars."