Forests and Water Partnership Project in the Upper Oconee Watershed, Northeast Georgia, USA

More than half of all drinking water in the 48 contiguous US states originates in forested watersheds. Because drinking water treatment costs increase as these forests are lost to development, innovative source-water programs are needed to protect forests to preserve the quality, quantity, and timing of water supplies they provide to downstream drinking water facilities. In 2017, the Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water identified the Upper Oconee Watershed in Northeast Georgia as a priority watershed for forestland conservation due to rapid urban growth and the threat to local forests. This thesis summarizes efforts by the Southeastern Partnership, in collaboration with the Upper Oconee Watershed Network and Georgia Forestry Commission, toward establishing a sustainable and resilient drinking water fund by leveraging relationships, basin conditions, and funding mechanisms to secure adequate future drinking water supplies through forestland stewardship, management, and preservation.