Water Wars

[erm1981]

Atlanta's probably going to run out of water, if they get too many more people there.

Edit: Use this thread to discuss water wars in the South. Who has water, who doesn't and where they age going to get some. --monsoon

[coyotetrickster]

Atlanta's probably going to run out of water, if they get too many more people there.

Never underestimate a wealthy city's ability to acquire necessary resources. L.A. ransacked Norcal for water rights back in the 20s and we're waiting patiently to take our water back and end the sprawling car cancer to the south. But damn if they don't keep finding ways to keep our water flowing south! Atlanta is the LA of the south (without beaches or the San Gabriels, but there is enough concentrated wealth and corporate power in the region to keep water flowing, even at the expense of rural regions and less-weathy states like Alabama, Tennesee and South Carolina)

[titanhog]

Never underestimate a wealthy city's ability to acquire necessary resources. L.A. ransacked Norcal for water rights back in the 20s and we're waiting patiently to take our water back and end the sprawling car cancer to the south. But damn if they don't keep finding ways to keep our water flowing south! Atlanta is the LA of the south (without beaches or the San Gabriels, but there is enough concentrated wealth and corporate power in the region to keep water flowing, even at the expense of rural regions and less-weathy states like Alabama, Tennesee and South Carolina)

It makes me angry every time I think about what LA has done to the Northern Cal lakes like Mono Lake or how San Fran was able to talk the government into building a dam in the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite, which would have been an almost identically beautiful valley compared to Yosemite Valley. Cali's water thirsts have caused an awful lot of destruction.

[flith]

Atlanta's probably going to run out of water, if they get too many more people there.

Chattanooga and Tennessee American Water company had talked to Atlanta in the late '90s about selling water from the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. That is one of the reasons Tennessee passed the interbasin water transfer act. Basically, it would be illeagle for Chatt or the private water utility to sell water outside of the TN River watershed without state approval.

[monsoon]

Note: created from an off topic set of posts, but it should be a good discussion for the USA South since water does not respect state boundries.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

We recently had a lawsuit, or just a huge discussion, about the ability of the Greater Birmingham area to get water from Lake Guntersville and Wheeler Lake along the Tennessee River. But, in the end, the cities of Guntersville, Decatur, and Huntsville won out and kept the Greater Birmingham area from tapping the reservoirs, now their stuck with the Cahaba and the Warrior.

[rusthebuss]

Vabeach gets its water from Norfolk and from Lake Gaston which is on the NC and Va border. I never thought about there being a shortage. I guess with the country population exploding this is something we need to be proactive on and not reactive.

[AuLukey]

It makes you wonder though, in a country with a population that is a third the size of both China and India, if we're having problems now with this, I can't imagine what they're going through to get water around. I guess they have the benefit of many large rivers coming off the Himalayas, but you would think their populations would offset that.

[satalac]

It makes you wonder though, in a country with a population that is a third the size of both China and India, if we're having problems now with this, I can't imagine what they're going through to get water around. I guess they have the benefit of many large rivers coming off the Himalayas, but you would think their populations would offset that.

we're having trouble getting clean water. they have trouble getting water period.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

It makes you wonder though, in a country with a population that is a third the size of both China and India, if we're having problems now with this, I can't imagine what they're going through to get water around. I guess they have the benefit of many large rivers coming off the Himalayas, but you would think their populations would offset that.

There's enough water, there's just no regional cooperation IMO. That's what happened with the dispute about Greater Birmingham getting water from the reservoirs of the Tennessee. There is no regional coop. except in Norther Alabama in this state. Everybody is worried about keeping what's their's, their's. Eventually cities and states will have to start cooperating with eachother. But until then, I can't tell what's gonna happen.

[Mith242]

Overall the south is lucky because this usually isn't a problem. And I agree with the others don't underestimate any big city looking for water. There haven't been any big dams built in the US for a while now. If anything the Corps of Engineers might start building a few is this became more of a problem.

[suburban george3]

Greensboro, one of the "poorest" cities in water resources along with other regional municipalities has just built the Randleman Dam south of Greensboro off US 220. Beforehand, Greensboro at times was like a beggar going to neighboring water "rich" cities of Burlington, High Point, and Winston-Salem to purchase water.

While this water problem was solved for the moment, as southern cities grow rapidly, things are going to get dicey and will pit town vs city and state vs state. It will get ugly.

[Spartan]

Atlanta also wants to pump water from Lake Hartwell to satisfy its increasing water demands. The problem is not that they want to use it, but how do you decide who gets what share of water flowing into the lake... given that Atlanta is a larger city, but most of the lake is in SC. Anderson and Greenville could also benefit from that water.

Also, is interbasin water exchange ethical? If we take water from Lake Hartwell and send it to Atlanta, it will ultimately end up in the Gulf, and not continue down the Savannah River so that Augusta and Savannah could use it (and end up in the Atlantic). It will decrese waterflows and possibly affect wild life habitats that depend on the river for life.

That said, it is a man-made lake, so you could also argue that the damage is already done. What do you think about this?

[Spartan]

South Carolina and Georgia have made some progress in deciding what to do about our shared aquifer along the coast. Savannah and Beaufort/Hilton Head share this aquifer, and it is showing signs of depletion. The two states have both acknowledged the problem officially and are now going to form a committee to form a plan.

It will probably involve reducing pumping from the aquifer and locating alternative sources of water.

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