Today the Georgia Water Coalition launched television commercials aimed at educating Georgia voters about an important issue facing Georgia: water. The commercial calls attention to water waste in metro Atlanta and calls on voters to ask gubernatorial candidates how clean water can be assured for all Georgians.
“When it comes to water, it’s high time metro Atlanta becomes accountable for its own water needs and stops relying on the rest of Georgia for their water, especially when the metro area has too many leaks and not enough conservation,” said Gordon Rogers, the Flint Riverkeeper and member of the Georgia Water Coalition. “Already, metro Atlanta moves hundreds of millions of gallons of water per day among four major river basins, drying up certain portions of Georgia beyond reasonable use. As Georgia voters, we need to ask the candidates for Governor ‘How will metro Atlanta be held accountable?’ and ‘Who will protect our water?’”
For many years, metropolitan Atlanta has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. This growth has placed increasing pressure on Georgia’s finite water supply, and our next governor will likely face the long-running "Tri-State Water War" between Georgia, Florida and Alabama head-on once he gets into office.
The water war reached a new level on July 17, 2009, when U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that metro Atlanta was illegally using Lake Lanier for water supply. Judge Magnuson gave Georgia three years to reach a water sharing agreement with Alabama and Florida that would include the use of Lanier as a drinking water supply. Without that agreement, the taps could literally be shut off to portions of metro Atlanta. When the new governor takes office, he will have only 18 months to solve this dilemma.
Governor Perdue last year appointed a task force to identify potential sources of water in light of the ruling, and that task force considered water transfers to metro Atlanta from other locations like Lake Burton, Lake Hartwell, the Tennessee River basin, Lake Jackson, and South Georgia groundwater.
While the Task Force did not recommend any of these solutions because of their financial and political costs, metro Atlanta is already supporting its expanding development with immense transfers of water that would have flowed to downstream communities if not diverted. Cartersville and Rome in the Coosa River basin lose an estimated 13 million gallons per day (MGD) through a water transfer that supports metro Atlanta’s growth. LaGrange, West Point and Columbus, downstream from Atlanta on the Chattahoochee, lose an estimated 48 MGD; and Flint River communities like Thomaston, Oglethorpe and Albany lose around 10 MGD. On the Flint River, at Thomaston, this amounts to nearly 50% of the present-day low flow.
On the Flint, these transfers are already impacting water levels. Low flows in the upper Flint basin have been eroded by 60% since the 1970s, with as much as half of this attributable to interbasin water transfers alone, according to an analysis by the Flint Riverkeeper. The organization estimates that modern-day low flows could be improved by almost 50% if existing transfers of water were returned.
The 48 MGD transfer from the Chattahoochee is enough to supply the current daily demands of the downstream communities in Newnan, LaGrange, and Columbus combined, according to the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
In the Coosa basin, reductions in water transfers show that aggressive water conservation measures can help protect downstream communities. Transfers from the Coosa basin to metro Atlanta peaked in 2002 at 38 MGD, but have since declined steadily. During the drought year of 2008, water conservation efforts and drought-related watering restrictions kept the average monthly transfer below 18 MGD.
“This is the kind of success story we want to see more of from metro Atlanta,” said Joe Cook, Upper Coosa Riverkeeper. “It shows that if metro Atlanta gets serious about conservation, they can live within their means and protect water supplies for all Georgia communities like Rome, Albany and Columbus.”
“What has happened on the Coosa can happen on the Flint and Chattahoochee, too”, said Rogers. “Metro Atlanta has already demonstrated it can be more efficient, and share the water more equitably. We support these efforts, and want the next Governor to do all he can to move this ball down the field to a goal line of ‘no unreasonable impacts’ on downstream communities.”
Estimates show that metro Atlanta could save between 120 and 200 mgd by implementing water efficiency and conservation measures. Click here for a fact sheet with details on how. The commercial directs viewers to the “No Water Grabs” website where they can sign a petition asking the Governor to ensure any current and future interbasin transfers of water protect our natural resources and our economic future.
The television commercial is broadcasting in southwest Georgia over the next week, and is being broadcast over the internet on Georgia Water Coalition partners’ websites, YouTube, e-mail communications, and social networking sites.
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Monday, October 11, 2010
Georgia Water Coalition Commercial Calls Voter Attention to Important Water Issues
Monday, October 20, 2008
Georgia Republican Delegation: Obama sides with Florida on water issues, disregards Georgia’s needs
Georgia’s seven Republican House Members today joined Senators Chambliss and Isakson in sending a letter to Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill, expressing their concern with campaign promises he made to Florida residents regarding his plans to interfere with water allocation issues in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basins.
The text of the letter is as follows:
Dear Senator Obama,
We are writing to express our disappointment with comments made October 16, 2008 by you and your campaign relating to water allocation issues in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River basins. As you may know, these river basins serve both Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. While we appreciate your interest in the tri-state water issues, the comments by you and your campaign reflect a lack of understanding of the scope of the problems in the ACF and ACT basins, a lack of understanding of the requirements of the Army Corps of Engineers with regards to the ACF and ACT basins under federal law, and a blatant disregard for the needs of the residents of Georgia.
According to your campaign’s statement, you “would direct the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct a study to assess the water availability, supply options and demand-management alternatives that factor into ACF River System usage, as well as the impact of freshwater flow on the ecology of the Apalachicola River and Bay.’ You also said, “As President, I will make protecting Florida’s water resources a priority.”
As you may know, the Army Corps of Engineers is required under federal law to update the water control manuals for the ACF and ACT basins and recently announced it would begin doing so in the ACT basin. We are pleased to hear from Secretary of the Army Pete Geren that the Corps is moving forward with updating these manuals, because it will allow the Corps to make smarter decisions in their management of these river systems. We have underscored to him how important this action is. As you also may know such an update would include studies to assess water supply and demand, and environmental management practices for ALL the users and stakeholders in the basins, not just those on the Apalachicola River and Bay. To ask the Corps to ignore its responsibilities under federal law in favor of the residents of Florida is a clear affront to the residents of Georgia.
We have continually worked to get Georgia, Florida and Alabama together and to force the Corps of Engineers to update a 20-year-old Water Control Plan for the Alabama –Coosa-Tallapoosa and Apalachicola -Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins. We have consistently reached out to the Florida and Alabama congressional delegations in an effort to maintain a united federal presence in support of a tri-state agreement.
Senator, your recent comments with regards to protecting Florida’s water resources simply halts any progress which would furthermore drive a divisive wedge into a fragile coalition. Should your Presidential campaign be successful, we hope that you will revisit your position regarding the ACF and ACT river basins.
From the headwaters of the Chattahoochee in Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico in Florida, we have worked to find a solution that benefits not only the people of our state, but all those who reside in the river basins. It is unfortunate that your comments will likely undo the good work the three states have accomplished thus far.
Respectfully,
Senator Saxby Chambliss
Senator Johnny Isakson
Congressman Paul Broun
Congressman Nathan Deal
Congressman Phil Gingrey
Congressman Jack Kingston
Congressman John Linder
Congressman Tom Price
Congressman Lynn Westmoreland
