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ATLANTA-With the South in the grip of an epic drought and its largest city holding less than a 90-day supply of water, officials are scrambling to deal with the worst-case scenario: What if Atlanta's faucets really do go dry?So far, no real backup exists. And there are no quick fixes among suggested solutions, which include piping water in from rivers in neighboring states, building more regional reservoirs, setting up a statewide recycling system or even desalinating water from the Atlantic Ocean."It's amazing that things have come to this," said Ray Wiedman, owner of an Atlanta landscaper business. "Everybody knew the growth was coming. We haven't had a plan for all the people coming here?"Gov. Sonny Perdue seems to be pinning his hopes on a two-pronged approach: urging water conservation and reducing water flowing out of federally controlled lakes.Perdue's office was preparing Friday to ask a federal judge to force the Army Corps of Engineers to curb the amount of water draining from Georgia reservoirs into Alabama and Florida. And Georgia's environmental protection director is drafting proposals for more water restrictions.But that may not be enough to stave off the water crisis.More than a quarter of the Southeast is covered by an "exceptional" drought—the National Weather Service's worst drought category. Georgia is smack in the middle of the affected area, which extends like a dark cloud over most of Tennessee, Alabama and the northern half of Georgia, as well as parts of North and South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia.State officials warn that Lake Lanier, a 38,000-acre north Georgia reservoir that supplies more than 3 million residents with water, is already less than three months from depletion. Smaller reservoirs are dropping even lower, forcing local governments to consider rationing.State water managers say there is more water available in the lake's reserves. But tapping into it would require the use of barges, emergency pumps and longer water lines. And some lawmakers fear if the lake is drained that low, it may be impossible to refill.The Corps, which manages the water in the region, stresses there's no reason to think Atlanta will soon run out of water."We're so far away from that, nobody's doing a contingency plan," said Major Daren Payne, the deputy commander of the Corps' Mobile office. "Quite frankly, there's enough water left to last for months. We've got a serious drought, there's no doubt about it, anytime you deplete your entire storage pool and tap into the reserve."But, he said, any calls to stockpile bottled water would be "very premature."Still, some academics and politicians are proposing contingency plans in case the situation worsens.Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said the region should explore piping in additional sources of water—possibly from the Tennessee or Savannah rivers. She even suggested desalinating sea water from Georgia's Atlantic coast."We need to look beyond our borders," she said.
To read more go to:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SCGVUG0&show_article=1&catnum=1
As in the days of Noah.....
