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Water Battle Intensifies in the Southeast! |
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Wednesday, 24 October 2007 |
With more than 692 miles of shoreline when full, Lake Lanier was completed by the Army Corp of Engineers in June of 1957. It's purpose is a "multi-purpose lake that provides for flood protection, power production, water supply, navigation, recreation and fish and wildlife management". For the most part it has lived up to it's purpose but in recent years it has become a hotly debated water source for Georgia, Alabama and Florida residents.
This year's drought has brought this to the forefront in a debate for drinking water. Since the lake was created with Federal money, it is managed as a resource for people living in the southeast part of the United States which touch the Chattahoochee river. Water flows out of Lake Lanier along the Chattahoochee river to it's final destination to the Gulf. During the current drought, it has served it purpose to maintain this waterway as it was intended.
The battle has recently intensified due to the drought. The metro Atlanta area is one of the largest populations affected by Lake Lanier since more than 4 million people rely upon it as a source of drinking water. In recent months the levels of the lake have dropped dramatically. A large number of home surrounding the lake which previously had lakefront property have discovered that this is no longer true. The lake has disappeared and this has fueled part of the debate about Lake Lanier's purpose as a recreational lake. Expensive lakefront homes have found that the lake may not always keep it's same level which can have an effect on the value of their homes.
Recent panic over the drop in lake levels has fueled concerns that the region may be running out of water. Many North Georgia cities rely upon water drawn from Lake Lanier as their sole source of drinking water. Of course, the Chattahoochee river serves as a resource of drinking water for communities along it's entire route and reducing the flow of water from Lanier would have a dramatic effect for those people as well. While the large population of people in the Atlanta area are the most visible of this group, if this flow is reduced it will cause problems for folks further south of the area. Most of the photos you see today come from the northern areas of the lake which shows the drop in water levels more acutely.
Further compounding this problem is the fact that further south the Chattahoochee also serves transportation needs as well as environment and wildlife requirements and the Army Corp of Engineers is assigned the task of maintaining those resource services as well. Today, the Corp finds itself in the middle of this fight between three states fighting for this water. Their job is hampered by court cases, political fights between states and even environmental groups all wanting a portion of this valuable resource for their own purposes. Even with all of that, the Army Corp of Engineers has managed this resource as policies have dictated. They have done their job well.
Hopefully, once we get through this current drought difficulty, Georgia, Alabama and Florida governments can finally come together and work out a longer term solution. It is clear that over the years there have been policies added to this mix that do not serve the longer term goals of managing this resource as well as it should be managed. This is not the fault of the Army Corp of Engineers! This is primarily due to political pressures from all three states! Our future water needs requires that everyone comes together in all three states to address the problems and come to a workable solution for everyone in the southeast!
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 October 2007 )
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