The Soil and Water Conservation Commission in Forsyth County

Most of us see construction underway nearly everywhere in Forsyth County. A chief concern should be managing the environmental impact of all of this work, but an important tool for addressing those effects is often done with an agricultural, rather than a developmental, perspective. An opportunity to ensure these needs are addressed with the proper expertise is on the ballot in November.

What’s the Soil and Water Commission (SWCC)?
Georgia formed the SWCC--with a mission to protect, conserve and improve the soil and water resources--in the 1930s, during the dust bowl era, to educate farmers on soil conservation techniques. The SWCC comprises 40 Soil & Water Conservation Districts in 159 counties, and each county has at least two supervisors on their District Board of Supervisors. In our district, one of the two supervisors is elected and one is appointed. 

Forsyth is part of the Upper Chattahoochee River District of the SWCC, which  includes Forsyth, Hall, Dawson, White, and Habersham counties. Historically, the counties have been heavily agricultural, and as a result, the district focused on farming and rural issues. However, the land in Forsyth is now primarily residential and commercial, and yet Forsyth’s representation on the board has not changed with the times. Today, we need the District to support the majority of residents.

Since its inception our district has and continues to be supervised exclusively by farmers and has focused on the needs of farmers. These supervisors are excellent representatives of the agricultural industry, but they do not represent the reality of present day Forsyth County.

Although the mission of the SWCC was originally to help farmers conserve their land and water, this has changed and the mission now is to serve all people in the State. For example, one of the responsibilities of the SWCC is to review and approve Erosion and Sediment Control Plans for construction projects. The plans show the construction companies how to prevent erosion from the area of construction. 

These plans are very important in counties like Forsyth where extensive development is occurring. Without these plans, and their implementation, our streams would be muddy and clogged with sediments. At the last district meeting (May 2024), Forsyth county had 21 plans approved, compared to a total of only 11 for the other four counties combined. Forsyth is different from most of the rest of the SWCC’s districts.

Relevant Expertise Needed for Rapidly Developing County 
Virtually all of the other work being done by the Upper Chattahoochee River District is related to farming. They are supporting programs such as feral swine control, no-till farming, fire watch programs for north GA counties, small farm training programs, and work by the University of Georgia extension program for farmers. These programs do not generally have direct applicability to residential or commercial developments in Forsyth.

Only about 10% of Forsyth County land is farmland, and as can be observed by driving through the County (and shown by US Dept of Agriculture statistics), that percentage is steadily decreasing. Lakes and rivers now occupy the same percentage of the land as farms. 

The majority of the land in the County is residential, commercial and industrial. These types of land often need to install water detention/sediment retention facilities to collect runoff from the land and protect our waterways. Currently, our District does not have any programs on how to manage the detention/retention facilities. However, other districts with large percentages of suburban/urban land have developed programs to help people manage their facilities. Our district needs to implement programs to help with these facilities and the SWCC staff is ready to help us but we need representation to put our county’s changing needs on the table.  

Let Nature Do its Job
Another technical area being ignored by our district is natural methods to help control flooding and stream flow. This might include measures such as vegetative stream bank protection or reintroducing beavers who are natural dam builders. The beavers can help improve the environment of streams, and the dams help minimize flooding during heavy rainfall events. Again, the SWCC staff is ready to help us with these types of programs, but we need someone on the commission to bring our needs to their attention.

Other areas where the District could help is training/guidance for HOAs on the use of herbicides and fertilizers, or plantings that can help stabilize slopes on developed land.
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The District must expand its membership to include people with appropriate technical backgrounds, representing homeowners and commercial interests. Currently the Upper Chattahoochee River District is represented by 9 people, all with farming-related backgrounds. There is one open seat in Forsyth. Our district needs someone with a desire and expertise to represent the interests of the majority of the County. 
The Forsyth County Democrats are supporting Roger Pennifill (www.rogerforcleanwater.com ) in his bid for this non-partisan seat. He has over 40 years’ experience in environmental and erosion control projects and will work for the benefit of the residents of the County.