City of Rincon v

Couch, 276 Ga. App. 567, 623 S.E.2d 754 (2005). Consideration of alternative water source. — Administrative law judge who reviewed the Georgia environmental department’s denial of a city’s application for an additional groundwater withdrawal permit properly considered whether there was an alternative water source currently available to the city, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-96(d)(1), based on the plain language of the statute and of the term ‘‘necessity’’; there was a lack of evidence regarding the department’s alleged policy on that issue, such that the city’s claim to the contrary lacked merit. City of Rincon v. Couch, 276 Ga. App. 567, 623 S.E.2d 754 (2005). Denial of groundwater withdrawal permit proper. — Georgia environmental department’s analysis and decision to deny a city’s application for a groundwater withdrawal permit complied with O.C.G.A. § 12-5-96(d) as a matter of law as the decision supported the policies of the Groundwater Use Act of 1972, as set out in O.C.G.A. § 12-5-91, the department was entitled to place more emphasis on the city’s need or necessity for a new water withdrawal under O.C.G.A. § 12-5-90(d)(1) over other factors, and the department was not statutorily or regulatorily required to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law to show that the department considered all ten factors under § 12-5-96(d). City of Rincon v. Couch, 276 Ga. App. 567, 623 S.E.2d 754 (2005).