Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Plan (2011)
Historical edition. This independent guide describes the September 2011 plan. It is not an official state publication or a statement of current requirements.
The Middle Ocmulgee plan provides a particularly clear historical example of a region where broad resource availability and local infrastructure needs can diverge. It also connects conditions in the Lake Jackson watershed with upstream activity outside the planning region, making it useful for research on water quality across administrative boundaries.
Document at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Document | Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Plan |
| Edition | September 2011; adopted-plan file recovered from the former water-planning website |
| Responsible council | Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Planning Council |
| Length | 121 PDF pages, including front matter |
| Planning horizon | 2050 |
| Historical filename | MOC_Adopted_RWP_000.pdf |
Area and planning context
The edition covers 12 counties and 28 municipalities, with Macon, Warner Robins and Covington among its population centers. Its description follows the transition across the Fall Line, explaining the different roles of surface sources, crystalline-rock groundwater and aquifers farther south. The document's population and land-use descriptions refer to the 2011 planning baseline.
What makes this edition useful
The assessment generally found adequate regional supply resources under its future scenarios, while identifying local infrastructure needs, including in Newton and Jasper counties. The plan also discusses nitrogen loading in Lake Jackson, upstream discharges associated with the Metro Water District and possible treatment constraints in receiving streams. These are distinct issues: having sufficient source water does not by itself provide treatment, delivery or wastewater capacity.
The discussion above is based on the plan's executive summary. Read the archived source.
What the document contains
Regional sources and users
The resource inventory explains where surface water and groundwater support supply and relates those patterns to the physical setting. The demand forecasts separate the principal user sectors and extend the original planning assumptions through 2050.
Local capacity within regional availability
The comparison chapters distinguish availability in the natural resource from the capacity of local water systems to serve expected growth. The wastewater forecast provides a separate view of future treatment and discharge requirements.
Lake Jackson and other quality issues
The plan considers nutrient contributions, upstream and downstream relationships, impaired streams, treatment improvements and nonpoint pollution. It therefore supports research beyond a simple account of water-supply volume.
Implementation and evidence needs
The council selected 35 practices, with a priority subset, and described actions for different implementation periods. Master planning, monitoring, treatment, runoff reduction and improved assessment information are among the themes developed in the plan.
What you can use it for
- Lake Jackson watershed research. Locate the historical explanation of upstream nutrient contributions and the coordination needed across regional boundaries.
- Growth and infrastructure comparisons. Compare the 2011 expectations for local supply and wastewater needs with later utility and land-use planning.
- Regional planning education. Use the document to explain the difference between a physically available source and a system capable of treating and delivering that water.
These are suggested research uses of the document, not claims that the council produced it for each of these specific audiences.
A practical reading route
- Start with the executive summary. PDF pages 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 contain the region-specific context and findings used in this guide. PDF page numbers include covers and may differ from the printed labels.
- Use the resource inventory and forecasting chapters to identify the source, user sector, baseline and scenario behind the issue you are studying.
- Follow the capacity comparison into the selected management practices. Read the implementation material before describing a proposal as a commitment, a funded project or a completed intervention.
- Consult the bibliography and referenced technical studies for modeling methods and supporting assumptions. A referenced study or supplementary memorandum is not necessarily included in the main PDF.
Useful questions to take into the source:
- Does the finding concern source-water availability or local infrastructure?
- Which upstream contributions were included in the Lake Jackson discussion?
- Is a recommendation for additional monitoring, treatment or land-management action?
How to interpret the historical findings
The absence of a modeled regional source-water gap does not mean that all communities had spare treatment capacity or that every future discharge would meet water-quality requirements. The 2050 figures are historical forecasts, not observations.
Keep observations, forecasts and recommendations separate. A projection for 2050 records what the 2011 planning exercise expected under its assumptions; it does not establish what has happened since. For present-day decisions, check the applicable later plan, source studies and agency guidance.
Read or obtain the original
- Internet Archive: view the September 2011 PDF.
- Internet Archive: open the archived PDF directly. This is the external archived copy, not a PDF hosted by this independent site.
- EPD: official regional plan catalog. For current planning, use this official catalog; its newer editions are separate documents.
- If an older copy is unavailable, ask Georgia EPD at water.planning@dnr.ga.gov for the September 2011 edition.
The archived PDF was retrieved and opened successfully on 31 October 2026. External archives may later change their availability.
May 2011 consultation version
The exact earlier file, MOCRWPdraftMay2011FINAL_042811.pdf, has not been recovered. The archived September edition above is available, but it is not an identical replacement for the missing May document. Request the exact filename from EPD if your research depends on the consultation-stage wording.
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About this guide
This page is an original editorial description and reading guide. It does not reproduce the report's text, tables, maps or photographs. The document title identifies the source; links lead to third-party repositories or the official planning program. This website is independently operated and is not affiliated with Georgia EPD or the regional council.