| River talks could begin soon AIKEN - High-level discussions aimed at creating the first formal agreement between Georgia and South Carolina about sharing the Savannah River likely will start early next year, an official involved in the negotiations said Tuesday. Mike McShane, an appointee to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's Water Law Review Committee, said the states were forming teams that would start hammering out tough issues, including each state's share of river water, how much each state can discharge into the river and conservation. The committees, which are still being filled, are tentatively scheduled to start meeting in January, said Mr. McShane, who will represent South Carolina in the negotiations and also serves as chairman of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources board of directors. "My overall focus has been that we need to be proactive on this," he said. "Let's do it now, while were not necessarily under the gun of a drought. When anybody is in crisis mode, they're not going to negotiate in the same good faith that they would if they weren't." Both states need to appoint representatives from within the Savannah River basin, Augusta Mayor Bob Young said. "I would suggest Augusta plays a key role in the use and the future," he said. "I think you'd get the same argument out of Savannah as well, because that's where the harbor is located." Georgia has yet to name its committee members, said Loretta Lepore, Gov. Sonny Perdue's press secretary. Harold Melton, the governor's chief counsel, and Carol Couch, the director of the state Environmental Protection Division, are drawing up the list of appointees, she said. "They'll create the list and give it to the governor to sign off on it," she said. "They'll probably have more substantive discussion after the holidays. There are no fixed time lines at this point." In addition to Mr. McShane, South Carolina also will be represented by Elizabeth Hagood, the chairwoman of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control board of directors, and Bob Waldrep Jr., a former state senator. The state's six-person committee also will include someone from Mr. Sanford's office and, most likely, representatives from the commerce and agriculture sectors, Mr. McShane said. Governors from both states started discussing the issue last summer. The talks started after a report conducted for Mr. Sanford said Georgia and South Carolina should formalize its relationship now, before drought strains the issue and it ends up in court. The report also pointed out that Georgia dumped a far larger amount of waste into the river than South Carolina, by some estimates up to 90 percent of its capacity. Mr. McShane said it's possible that one of the remaining appointees would come from the Aiken area.
Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113, or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
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