Atlanta Water Situation Called Dire

[Ivan Seeking]

This is a good report from PBS [The News Hour] about the fight for water in the West.

RAY SUAREZ: The Great Basin of Nevada is an arid region of mountain ranges, meadows, and bubbling streams. What little precipitation falls here quickly evaporates or becomes ground water. None of it escapes to the ocean.

It's in these peaceful valleys that a fierce battle has begun over water and electricity, growth and sustainability... For decades, Cecil Garland and Dean Baker have ranched the land here about five hours north of Las Vegas. In this desert climate, they need to irrigate 70 days a year to grow alfalfa for their cattle. But now the city of Las Vegas wants to take some of that water, and the ranchers say that could mean the end of their way of life...

CECIL GARLAND: Perhaps the fundamental question is what we're going to do with our water, crops or craps? [continued]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec07/vegas_11-14.html
[text and real audio]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/11/16/southern.drought.ap/art.drought.lanier.ap.jpg

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Federal biologists signed off on a plan Friday to reduce the flow of water from Lake Lanier, the main water source for Atlanta and the focal point of a three-state water fight as the Southeast contends with a historic drought. [continued]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/16/southern.drought.ap/index.html

 

[Moonbear]

Did you hear that the mayor of Atlanta is so desperate, he requested a public prayer for water? I need to find a link, but have seen the story cited elsewhere. I kind of thought if they're that desperate they ought to have opted for a rain dance.

If they do get rain after this long of a drought, I hope for their sake it starts out as a light sprinkle or drizzle. If they get any sort of downpour, there'll be all sorts of flooding before the dried ground can start to absorb some of it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I kind of thought if they're that desperate they ought to have opted for a rain dance.

You heathen.

 

[zoobyshoe]

You heathen.

Well the land was cracking and the river was dry.
All the crops were dying when they ought to be high.
So to save his farm from the bankers draft,
The farmer took out a book on some old witchcraft.
He made a spell and a potion on a midsummers night.
He killed a brindled calf in the pale moonlight.
He prayed to the sky but he prayed in vain:
Heavy cloud but
No rain.

-Sting

 

[theCandyman]

Did you hear that the mayor of Atlanta is so desperate, he requested a public prayer for water? I need to find a link, but have seen the story cited elsewhere. I kind of thought if they're that desperate they ought to have opted for a rain dance.

Well, it worked!

The dining halls here actually statred using diposable plates and plasticware to save water on washing dishes. Fountains around the city have stopped flowing, too. I can't say anything about watering lawns as I don't see that many very often.

 

[edward]

The Northern suburbs of Atlanta draw their water directly from lake Lanier. The water is no so low it has become a dead zone. There is no oxygen in the water and it is full of decaying plant and animal matter.

The Army Corps of Engineers predicts there is at least 120 days of water left, but that includes the water in the dead pool.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jHzTY3PWCbYfqU152QYeQ04K5uqwD8SV18V00

The City of Atlanta uses water from the Chattahoochee river that leaves Lake lanier. The river water is more aerated by the flow of the river.

All in all this is a good example of poor water management and lack of preparation.
Priority was give to power production in Florida and Alabama. The Federal wildlife service insisted that they needed more water flow to insure the survival of certain mussels.

It didn't help that while the water level was dropping in the lake, builders just kept on building more subdivisions.

We have a potential crisis here in the southwest with the Colorado river. Lake Powell is down to 30% capacity. Lake Meade is at 50% and dropping. Despite this the fountains keep flowing in Las Vegas, and builders keep building houses and golf courses in the desert.

Ironically Arizona and possibly federal law requires that new developments prove that they have an assured 100 year water supply. This has become a joke here recently, the 100 year assured water supply status is granted to new subdivisions and approved, yet our water supply beyond the year 2035 is based on total speculation.

The recent real estate bust may turn out to be a blessing for cities like Tucson.

 

[zoobyshoe]

We have a potential crisis here in the southwest with the Colorado river. Lake Powell is down to 30% capacity. Lake Meade is at 50% and dropping.

We here in San Diego get part of our water from the Colorado river so this is terrible news.

 

[turbo]

Have you seen the movie "Chinatown"?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Have you seen the movie "Chinatown"?

Many times.

 

[edward]

Here is an interesting satellite photograph of lake Meade. The picture that comes up is the lake in 2000. Run your cursor over the photo and it shows lake Meade in 2003.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/LakeMead/

The level of the lake has dropped considerably since 2003.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Here is an interesting satellite photograph of lake Meade. The picture that comes up is the lake in 2000. Run your cursor over the photo and it shows lake Meade in 2003.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/LakeMead/

The level of the lake has dropped considerably since 2003.

I wonder why they don't have a 2000 to 2007 comparison. Regardless, it looks very bad.

 

[edward]

I wonder why they don't have a 2000 to 2007 comparison. Regardless, it looks very bad.

I have been looking for some updated photos. Meade is much lower now at 50% capacity than in the 03 photo. The last time it was this low was in 1965. It wasn't a problem then because much less water was being used at that time.