Stop the Shutdown: Protect Georgia’s Water Monitoring Center
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, General Services Administration (GSA), U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Mayors and City Councils of Atlanta, Norcross, and
In 2023, dangerous levels of bacteria were pouring into the Chattahoochee River—and most of us never knew.
It took the South Atlantic Water Science Center in Norcross to catch it. Their federal scientists worked with local partners to detect the contamination, trace it to a failing wastewater plant, and push for accountability. Without that monitoring, families across metro Atlanta could have been drinking or swimming in polluted water—without warning.
Now, that same science center is on a federal shutdown list. Not because it failed. Not because it’s unnecessary. But because Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” wants to cut costs and dismantle oversight. One of their targets? The federal staff who keep watch over the water millions of Georgians drink.
They say it’ll save $1.3 million. But what’s the cost of a flood with no warning? A pathogen outbreak with no alert? A river poisoned with no one watching?
This is not efficiency. It’s abandonment. And it’s happening under the watch of leaders at every level.
If Governor Brian Kemp won’t speak up for Georgia’s drinking water, he’s complicit. If Senators Ossoff and Warnock stay quiet, they’re missing in action. If local officials and utility boards refuse to fight, they’ve already surrendered.
We’re not asking for luxury—we’re demanding basic safety.
This center tracks floods, pathogens, dam releases, rainfall, and river levels. It protects our farms, our food, our cities, and our children. And it works.
We don’t shut down our fire alarms during wildfire season. We don’t silence our flood gauges as storms grow stronger. We don’t blindfold ourselves in a crisis.
We are Georgians. We believe in stewardship, accountability, and protecting our neighbors.
Water is life. This center protects it. And we will not let it be shut down without a fight.
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To:
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, General Services Administration (GSA), U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Mayors and City Councils of Atlanta, Norcross, and
From:
[Your Name]
We demand that you immediately reverse the planned shutdown of the U.S. Geological Survey’s South Atlantic Water Science Center in Norcross.
This is not just another government office. This is Georgia’s front line of defense.
Its scientists track dangerous bacteria in the Chattahoochee River. They monitor flooding, dam releases, rainfall, and water quality across the region. Their real-time alerts protect families, farmers, and first responders—from Buford Dam to the Gulf of Mexico.
This center caught the pollution that led to a $300,000 fine for Fulton County’s largest wastewater plant. That wasn’t a lucky break. That was science doing its job—before someone got sick.
Now, Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” is trying to shut it down—silencing federal oversight in the name of budget cuts, under a Trump-era mandate to dismantle public protections. The plan? Terminate the lease. Disband the team. Stop the data.
We’re told it will save $1.3 million. What it really does is invite catastrophe.
No bacteria alerts.
No flood warnings.
No one watching the river.
And no answers when something goes wrong.
This is not a neutral act. It’s a choice: to leave Georgians unprotected while polluters operate unchecked.
We call on you to:
Immediately halt the lease termination and preserve the Norcross center’s operations and staff
Issue public statements opposing the closure
Guarantee uninterrupted water monitoring across the state
Disclose all communications and decisions surrounding this shutdown—no more secrecy
If you fail to act, we will remember who stood for clean water—and who stood aside.
Because this is not about politics. It’s about whether Georgia’s children can drink from the tap, swim in the river, and survive the next flood.
This is about trust.
This is about responsibility.
This is about life.
Keep the science working.
Keep Georgia safe.
Stop the shutdown.