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CHC Drought Newsletter
Water Restrictions Hit Green Industry Hard
Tree Care for Drought Stressed Trees
printed Athens Banner Herald 9/27/07
Water is the biggest, most pressing issue facing Athens-Clarke County and the state of Georgia . The drought that started in May of 1998 is nearly a decade old. What has been done in the last ten years on a statewide and local level other than ask citizens to conserve?
A little historical background is needed to completely understand our water problems. In the 1970's the state's population was less than 4.2 million, with most of these people living in north Georgia above the fall line that runs from Columbus to Augusta. There was virtually no irrigation in agriculture. Rainfall was 50-55 inches per year, much as it has been for the last 2 centuries.
In the 1980's the state's population increased by one million, mostly because of immigrants from other states. Irrigation began to be widely used in agriculture and homes. Droughts were experienced in the years of 1981, ‘86, and ‘88. This decade marked the beginning of the water wars between Georgia , Florida , and Alabama over the Chattahoochee River Basin .
During the roaring 1990's the state's population increased by 1.7 million, with most of the growth occurring in north Georgia . A major drought lasted from 1998-2002. Regional water plans began to be discussed due to serious water shortages and water restrictions became commonplace.
The turn of the century in the year 2000 the state's population reached 8.2 million people. Again, most of the growth is north of the fall line. The first statewide water restrictions in history were imposed. The drought continues until the winter of 2002. We experienced a couple of years of decent rainfall but by the end of 2006 we returned to serious drought conditions. The drought really never ended as we never made up the deficits from the years before and today we are nearly out of water in the Athens area.
For ten years now our state and local community leaders have talked about our water issues. To my mind, all they have done is talk. The water war between the states continues and here in the Athens area we are nearly to the point of having to buy our water in bottles. If you think having to bathe, cook and flush your toilet with bottled water is not possible then you are wrong. We really are nearly out of water.
Our rainfall does not increase. It does however decrease in drought years. Water use never decreases, but only increases. Population growth increases 20 percent every decade. These facts have been known for the last decade. What has been done to address the water situation?
Our community must invest money into improving our water and waste water infrastructure. Otherwise people are going to quit coming here. Do you think students will want to move to a dorm where the showers do not work? Will we attract the best researchers when labs have no water? Do you think any business or government entity will locate facilities and jobs here if we can't provide them water?
If you want negative growth in Athens the best way to assure it is to repeat the last decade and do nothing about our water issues. If you want our town to slowly dry up (excuse the pun) then let the world know we are not able to provide our people with the resources they need to live.
Communities must be able to provide water. Without water things like housing, jobs, education and cultural events don't mean a thing. Want to see what happens to towns that die? Take a drive through the cotton mill towns of middle and south Georgia. If we had tumbleweeds in the southeast they'd be blowing down the streets there. It is vital that we invest in water infrastructure to provide more water as well as educate our citizens on the importance of preserving water, our most vital natural resource.
Green industry' has become handy target
Athens Banner Herald Sunday, September 30, 2007
This summer, residents of Athens-Clarke County have seen the weight of one of the worst droughts in memory placed solely on the back of the green industry, an industry that in the past few weeks has been called a luxury, non-essential and wasteful. The same industry that creates green spaces, protects water quality, improves air quality and reduces soil erosion, not to mention makes our community a beautiful place to live.
Following a similar drought in 2002 in which the green industry suffered great losses, the Athens-Clarke County government formed a committee to study water conservation and drought measures. Our first challenge was a plan for outdoor water restrictions. Included in this plan were concessions made by our industry to encourage water conservation on a year-round, permanent basis.
We also agreed that as a drought progressed, tighter restrictions should be implemented sooner than in the past so people would not only water less, but would begin to actually think about conservation. Finally, we included a provision that in severe drought, the public could water by hand or drip irrigation one day per week. This measure would provide a chance to save valuable trees, shrubs, ground covers and landscapes.
In the rare case a drought progressed further, causing severe stress to our water supply, it was agreed that all outdoor watering would be banned. After all, if a drought reached this level, all industries and businesses would be forced to conserve or face running out of water.
This year, as the current drought worsened, water restrictions tightened - much earlier than in the past. The plan was working as designed. We would reduce water use earlier in the drought and would still have water to use later in the summer.
Recently, as Bear Creek Reservoir began to draw down, the Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority met and looked at various indices, such as soil moisture, river flow and the reservoir level. Shortly after that meeting, the Athens-Clarke County government's Web site announced a complete ban on outdoor watering.
My phone was flooded with calls from landscapers, nurserymen and the public, all asking the same question: How did we go to a complete ban? The callers wondered why officials had chosen to ignore the steps laid out in the plan. At a special called Sept. 18 commission meeting, county management warned of dire consequences if we didn't conserve now, and said we had only 45 days of water left in the reservoir.
The next step would be to deny water to customers so that public safety could be maintained. During the meeting, county management failed to answer a question regarding what was being done to locate other sources of water. Asked if a wider array of industries could be asked to share the burden, management warned that deviating from the drought plan was not in our best interest. We were reminded this was what the committee had wanted.
In reality, it wasn't. The plan we developed wasn't given the chance to work. Our most critical step of the plan, allowing for outdoor hand watering and drip irrigation, was skipped, and a complete water ban was in place.
What we didn't know then was that access to more water was already being arranged, through a request to the state Environmental Protection Division seeking permission for additional water withdrawals from the Middle Oconee River . The county's utilities director said that in his view, a complete outdoor water ban was needed to get EPD permission for the additional withdrawal.
So, did we skip a step of the drought plan to satisfy a state agency? Why was the public denied the information that more water was available? Why were we not told the request to pull more water from the river had already been made?
As residents, we are owners of the public water system. Right now, our system is failing us, and we should demand to know why. Despite much planning, Athens-Clarke County was not prepared to deal with the current drought.
Even though the green industry participated in that planning, and often led our committee to study conservation, we remain the first choice of our government for damaging and unproductive water restrictions. Our water use is visible, thereby making us an easy target.
Regardless, we would like to continue to provide needed green spaces. On a statewide basis, the green industry provides more than 80,000 jobs and contributes more than $8 billion to the state's economy. We will continue to improve our environment by reducing runoff and improving water quality. We will continue to make Athens a better and greener place to live. But only if we're allowed. Our industry is not a luxury or wasteful. We are, in fact, stewards of our natural resources, without whom our environment will suffer.
• Chris Butts of Charmar Flowers in Athens-Clarke County is a past president of the retail division of the Georgia Green Industry Association.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 093007
Georgia lifts outdoor water ban, plans for future shortages
February 2003 U.S. Water News Online
ATLANTA -- Officials in two Georgia counties said they are considering keeping a water ban in effect despite the state's decision to lift outdoor water restrictions.
North Fulton and Athens-Clarke county officials said the matter is still up for discussion. North Fulton County , which draws water from the Chattahoochee River , used more water than allowed last summer, according to county spokesman Dwight Towns.
Georgia 's long drought is over and the state-imposed outdoor water ban that went with it have been lifted. Now the Environmental Protection Division is drawing up rules to deal with future dry spells, instead of simply reacting to them.
Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Deputy Manager Bob Snipes said a final decision on water use was expected soon. The county pulls its water from the Bear Creek Reservoir, which didn't reach full level before summer usage dropped it to 60 percent capacity.
The EPD division is putting finishing touches on a plan that permanently replaces some restrictions to conserve water, no matter what the weather. Cities and counties can still impose watering bans as needed. The Department of Natural Resources Board could approve the plan as early as May.
Among the restrictions would be limiting outdoor use to three days a week, enough to maintain lawns, EPD spokesman Kevin Chambers said.
If it's approved by the DNR Board, the plan would be presented to local governments, suppliers, environmentalists and scientists.
The goal is to change Georgians' attitudes toward conservation, said Nap Caldwell, senior water policy adviser for the EPD. He compared the plan to the national effort in the 1960s to curb littering.
``The foundation of the campaign was to appeal to the sense of moral responsibility,'' he said.
The drought began in May 1998. It caused the agency to limit outdoor watering to every other day. Residents in hardest-hit counties were additionally forbidden to water their lawns during the daytime.
``Most of the state has enjoyed normal to above-normal rainfall over the past few months, and that means water-use restrictions are no longer necessary,'' EPD director Harold Reheis said. ``It is important for all of us to recognize the environmental and economic benefits that derive from wise and conservative use of our shared waters.''
David Stooksbury, a University of Georgia engineer and state climatologist, said current levels would not provide enough water for the surging state population. He added that while lakes and streams have risen, groundwater supplies take longer to catch up.
During the drought, the state imposed stricter limits in 15 metro Atlanta counties, where outdoor water use was banned from midmorning to mid-afternoon every day. Many counties there now say they'll follow the EPD's lead and allow restrictions to be dropped.
Some districts are using other means to encourage conservation. In DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, for example, water authorities recently added surcharges for excessive water use during the summer. And authorities left the door open for future, locally imposed restrictions if the demand is greater than the supply.
Water Future
Mahoney at rmahoney@bizjournals.com
It's not clear yet exactly how Georgia will get the water it needs to serve a population that could double to 18 million over the next 30 years.
But the cost of obtaining that water, using it, treating it and recycling some of it will be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, according to Carol Couch, director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division .
On Sept. 10, at the first meeting of a legislative panel that is trying to decide whether to approve Georgia 's first-ever statewide water plan in 2008, Couch cautioned lawmakers that securing all that water and paying for it won't be easy.
"We need future water supply," Couch said. "And there is no evident way that it can be gotten without a great deal of conflict within the state."
The first draft of the plan, developed by the EPD with input from state elected and appointed officials, was released June 28. A revised version was due out Sept. 13.
The plan lays the groundwork for the next three years, during which authorities in each of Georgia 's 14 major river basins will create their own local plans in the fashion of Atlanta 's Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District .
In the meantime, the plan freezes transfers of water from one basin to another -- i.e., to Atlanta from the rest of the state, a practice some say is vital to sustain Atlanta 's growth and the source of much of the conflict alluded to by Couch in her comments.
Once authorities for the 14 basins hash out their local plans, work can begin on planning and building the new reservoirs, pipes, water and sewer plants, and other projects, as well as repairing and replacing many existing facilities.
Georgia 's households, businesses, farms, industrial facilities and power plants already use an average of 6.5 billion gallons of water a day, according to the EPD. Current residential usage of up to 1.35 billion gallons a day could double to 2.7 billion gallons in the next 30 years due to population growth, with more than half that usage in metro Atlanta .
Local jurisdictions are already pushing more aggressive conservation. But the most optimistic savings from conservation is about 11 percent for the metro water district.
The conventional option for metro Atlanta to add supply is to build more reservoirs. But massive, federally funded projects on the scale of Lake Lanier -- the region's main water source -- are no longer on the drawing boards.
Many future reservoirs may be drained down in time of drought and the interbasin transfer dispute won't be resolved any time soon, says Doug Wilson, executive director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center in Albany . So the only real option for Atlanta is to seek new supplies out of state.
" Atlanta is kidding themselves if they think they can resolve their water issues in a comfortable way with the Band-Aids they're throwing at it," Wilson said. "A pipeline to Tennessee is the only idea that will work."
That idea was echoed by former EPD Director Leonard Ledbetter in a recent publication of the Georgia Association of Water Professionals , an industry group.
"The future water needs of Georgia will require more than just water conservation, especially in high population growth areas," Ledbetter wrote.
"Plans must address hard issues, such as interbasin transfer from the Tennessee River basin , desalinization of seawater and the ensuing transmission system needed to deliver water to areas of need."
Sam Olens, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission , said very early-stage inquiries have been made about whether Chattanooga might be receptive to trading water for a major expansion of its airport and a high-speed rail connection between that airport and Atlanta 's northern suburbs.
"Some access to the Tennessee River would be beneficial for Atlanta ," Olens said. "Hopefully this will lead to some meetings with some elected officials in Tennessee ."
Likewise, some Savannah-area legislators and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin have suggested the metro could pay for a pipeline of desalinated water from Georgia 's coast or a shorter pipeline from the Savannah River in northeast Georgia .
None of that appears anywhere in the EPD plan, however. Couch said both ideas are still far too expensive to consider now and desalination technology is in its infancy.
Instead, she stressed conservation, new reservoirs, and greater water recycling and reuse, as well as a few measures not currently practiced in Georgia , such as using underground aquifers as reservoirs.
Finding those hundreds of billions of dollars for whatever winds up being built will be tough. With federal funds in short supply, the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) has stepped up its loan program for cities and counties.
But GEFA's current loan capacity is only about $300 million a year, said spokesman Shane Hix, placing much of the burden on local governments.
Cities and counties can only fund so much through revenue bonds, conventional loans and the occasional special-purpose penny sales tax, said David Word, coordinator of the metro water district.
The bottom line, according to Ross King of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia , is that water and sewer rates may be in for one heck of an increase.
Georgia 's water plan
§ Will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to implement but does not suggest financing options
§ Calls for new reservoirs, water and sewer plants, and more conservation and recycling
§ Does not address long-term options such as piping the Tennessee or Savannah rivers
Reach Mahoney at rmahoney@bizjournals.com.
