Members of the Coosa-North Georgia Regional Water Council are keeping close tabs on how the state is calculating future water needs in each region.

Rome City Manager John Bennett, who chairs the 18-county organization, said projections are expected by March for the four major water-use categories. They are municipal (public) system customers, industries, agricultural operations and energy producers.

At that point, the council will start comparing the future needs with the available water in the region.

“I think a lot of people are afraid we’ll find out we’ve got more water than we need and somebody will take it away from us,” Bennett said.

The council, one of 11 charged with creating regional water management plans to be folded into a statewide plan, held its fourth meeting Wednesday in Dahlonega. The state plan is due to the Georgia General Assembly in January 2010.

Bennett said council members are learning that the priorities are not necessarily the same for all counties — or water-use sectors — but there is common ground.

“Interbasin transfer is a huge issue,” he said. “There could be minor issues between energy and municipal or agriculture, but I think we’re fairly united in wanting to make sure our region doesn’t lose water to another region”

One of the strategies discussed Wednesday is to ensure population projections are not the only basis for projecting water needs in the state.

Bennett said the per-capita use in the member-counties is “all over the board” because some industries depend heavily on water for their operations.

The council also brainstormed ways to accurately figure the amount of water used for agriculture, since withdrawal permits are required only for operations using more than 100,000 gallons a day.

And there was talk of pushing to change the state’s position that calculations should be based on the amount of water a municipal system is currently using, instead of the amount it is permitted to withdraw.

In addition to Floyd, the Coosa-North Georgia counties are Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Habersham, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, Polk, Towns, Union, Walker, White, and Whitfield.

Floyd County Commissioner Irwin Bagwell and Jerry Jennings, founder and chair of the Northwest Georgia Regional Water Resources partnership, also are among the 25 appointees to the council.

The next scheduled meeting, in January, will be a joint session with the Metropolitan North Georgia Regional Water Planning District.