Jackson County, GA Environmental Rules: Boat Dock Permits (2026)

Sec. 28-57, "Structures and improvements," bars constructing, placing, or causing to exist any structure or improvement, expressly including roads, trails, docks, signs, and landscape features, under, upon, in, or over the authority's property unless that structure has been authorized by a permit, lease, license, or other written agreement issued or executed by the Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority, and it must comply with that agreement's terms and conditions. This sits alongside Sec. 28-34, which lets adjacent landowners whose property touches Bear Creek Reservoir obtain a separate boat permit from the authority for a fee reviewed and adopted annually; that boat permit is nontransferable and expires at the end of the calendar year issued.

General reservoir access still requires the entrance permit in Sec. 28-32 before anyone may enter at all. Dock users are also bound by the boating rules in Sec. 28-41, including a 50-foot buffer from the authority's water intake tower and a ban on mooring or floating facilities that interfere with a buoy, channel marker, or other navigational aid. Sec. § 15-10-60.