water water water

Here in Atlanta, the headline news night after night is about the drought and the water wars. The entire south is facing problems with the water reserves. At this point, Atlanta is in real danger of dry reservoirs in 80-90 days. And this is not a new problem or one that will resolve itself over the next few months. This problem has been around for several years. During the summers, we have cut back on lawn watering and when the fall hits, we find ourselves not worrying so much about the water. But this year the water shortage is going to follow us into 2008. And now we are national news.



Unfortunately, there is no plan for what happens now that we are in the danger zone. The Army Corps of Engineers is in a tough spot and unable to just cut off the water supply that flows to Florida for the power plant and the mussels due to federal law. But it seems that NO ONE has really ever investigated how much the amount of water to the power plant and mussels in Florida can be reduced. I am suprised that no one has taken any efforts for a back up plan before now. In my mind - which might be oversimplifying it all - why can't we ALL cut back some? Not just us humans - but the mussels too?

The courts are now involved. Alabama is mad because they have said for years that Georgia gets too much water. And Georgia is mad because we are sending our water to feed mussels and power plants. I don't mind sharing. I have learned a lot about how I can cut down on my water usage. I don't mind conservation at all and am sure my water usage is forever changed. And again - I am oversimplifying - but why can't we all share and work together on a solution. UNITED states.

The Atlanta Watershed has been a disaster for YEARS. There are so many leaks in the water system in the City of Atlanta that they cannot keep up and repair them. They openly admit it. Furthermore if you have a leak that is on the City side - you are not allowed to have it repaired by anyone but the City of Atlanta. The water system is old and desperate need of repairs. And in spite of all of the construction and growth of the past 15 years, it has only been since Mayor Franklin took over that any action has been taken to actively repair the problems. And with problems that are decades old they are not quick repairs. Changes are happening but we are loosing every day GALLONS of water to leaks.



My friend bought a new house in July of 2006. She has never had a water bill. She has made several phone calls and several trips to the City of Atlanta Watershed. They have told her that until her meter is entered into the system there is nothing they can do. They are in no hurry and have no plan to get that metered entered anytime soon. In addition to this, one of our new construction projects hadn't received a bill for over 2 years. This was a high density project. After investigating for almost a year and with the help of the Mayor's office, it was discovered that the water for the entire project had been hooked up to the fire hydrant lines. No bill or money will ever be collected for those 2 years of usage. Several reports I have read state the water usage in Atlanta has not changed significantly in several years. And my reply to that would be - how does anyone really know? There are not accurate records. And with people continuing to move into the City, how can our water usage stay the same over the past several years? And why with the problems we have had over the past several years with low water levels - why is there no contingency plan?