Statewide water plan currently under development

Alabama’s lack of a clear, comprehensive statewide water policy is at the root of many water management and public health challenges in the state. Years of concerted advocacy by SELC and the Alabama Rivers Alliance paid off for us in April 2012 when Governor Robert Bentley ordered the drafting of an action plan and timeline for implementing a statewide water management plan for consideration by the state legislature in 2014.

Echoing the arguments in our 2011 update of the Alabama Water Agenda, the governor in 2012 called for the development of recommendations for a science-based plan that takes into account all the demands on the state’s waters. SELC, in collaboration with the Alabama Rivers Alliance, is actively participating in this process and we have submitted a detailed set of recommendations to the Alabama Water Agencies Working Group, which is executing the governor’s order to develop the water plan.