Thursday, March 06, 2008

Still, the Drought Continues


Georgia has been in a serious drought since last summer (see the current aerial view of a part of Lake Lanier taken from the AJC.com website today). We've had substantially less rainfall in the last year than we need, and the big lakes around Atlanta are depleted to a point that's pretty scary to see.

The culprit is more than inadequate rainfall. The Atlanta area is being developed beyond its capacity, with no plans in place to create the increased water and power needs. Also, a good bit of water from Georgia resources is flowing into Alabama and Florida waterways to preserve wildlife habitats in those areas.

First, our state lawmakers tried to sue the Army Corps of Engineers (the group that requires the water diversion) into allowing the state to keep her water. That didn't work, so they are now battling with Tennessee in a silly attempt to reclaim about a mile of land at the border that was apparently mislabeled as Tennessee in the early 1800s. That extra mile of land would give Georgia access to the Tennessee River, and its precious water.

Now, I've listened to Len talk about his law classes enough to know that after all this time has passed without Georgia laying claim to that land, there is very little the state can actually do to get it now. But, they'll still try. An enormous waste of time, I think, but I'm not an elected official.

The cool thing about all this is the effort I see being put forth by the average Georgian to conserve his water. I know people who, when running their shower waiting for the water to get warm, save that cold water into buckets to use on their plants. Others are collecting rainwater from their storm drains to use on their lawns. Folks aren't washing their cars as often. The county I live in is now requiring old, inefficient toilets be replaced at the time of a house sale.

That said, though, we've had a good bit of rain lately. Our trees and flowers are beginning to bloom and the grass is green and at first glance the drought seems to be a distant, unhappy memory.

But it's not. Our lakes are still dangerously low and the water crisis still exists. So, let's keep it up, folks! I'll keep doing what I can and I hope you continue your efforts, too!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

If its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown, flush it down!

Hockey Mom said...

Hear Hear! Totally with you on that one. I save my shower water to wash my fleece and then I use it for the plants. It gets triple duty! (Plants love the water from washed fleece.)

Len said...

Let us pray: Lord, please give us more water so that I can wash these mustard stains out of my shirt.

Betsy said...

Michiganders would like to help by sending you some snow. Just let us know when you'll be home to sign for it.

Debbie D said...

Scary photo ya got there. Have been recycling my steam veggie water. We use our dehumidifier water from the basement to help water our plants.


Tell Len I think beer works to get out mustard stains! tee hee