Drought

[freeztar]

It's pretty bad here in Atlanta. :cup:

The Associated Press: Drought Tightens Its Grip on Southeast

If there's a ground zero for the epic drought that's tightening its grip on the South, it's once-mighty Lake Lanier, the Atlanta water source that's now a relative puddle surrounded by acres of dusty red clay.

 

Tall measuring sticks once covered by a dozen feet of water stand bone dry. "No Diving" signs rise from rocks 25 feet from the water. Crowds of boaters have been replaced by men with metal detectors searching the arid lake bed for lost treasure.

...

But little rain is in the forecast, and without it climatologists say the water source for more than 3 million people could run dry in just 90 days.

 

 

They're talking about issuing mandatory water restrictions which makes me very happy. Why you ask? Because most times, people don't know what they have until it is gone. I'm hoping this situation will foster better water practices amongst the general population. We'll see...

 

Amazingly, I'm surprised nobody has attributed this to global warming yet. But it makes me wonder. Climatologists predict that drought and floods will coincide with future climate change. Is it here already?

 

I know other parts of the world are going through similar droughts (as chronicled by several Aussies here at Hypo). This thread is designed to share accounts of droughts as well as brainstorming solutions to the problem, which is likely to become more common.

[Buffy]

I saw this on CNN this morning and it sure sounds scary: rainfall is half of normal for the calendar year to date in the southeast.

 

This made me think about something: here in California, rainfall is always iffy. Normal Summer in most parts of the state mean 4-6 months without a drop of precipitation. Being on that kind of edge, we have droughts on a regular basis.

 

To deal with this as a regular/recurring problem, our reservoirs hold 2-3 years worth of water supply. As a result, we usually get 6 months notice that there's a problem.

 

Seems like most of the rest of the US though is so used to snow in the winter and rain even during the summer, that there's not much of a buffer, meaning a real drought like we get out here would quickly escalate into a crisis.

 

Whatever you believe the cause of global warming is, or even if its "increased variability" rather than "warming", its going to be downright uncomfortable in the future.

 

Instead of wasting breath arguing about the cause or even what it is, don'tcha think it would be a good idea to get a move on on building more reservoirs???

 

Bias for action,

Buffy

[freeztar]

I saw this on CNN this morning and it sure sounds scary: rainfall is half of normal for the calendar year to date in the southeast.

 

I'm hoping things don't escalate to Water World status.

This made me think about something: here in California, rainfall is always iffy. Normal Summer in most parts of the state mean 4-6 months without a drop of precipitation. Being on that kind of edge, we have droughts on a regular basis.

 

To deal with this as a regular/recurring problem, our reservoirs hold 2-3 years worth of water supply. As a result, we usually get 6 months notice that there's a problem.

 

Seems like most of the rest of the US though is so used to snow in the winter and rain even during the summer, that there's not much of a buffer, meaning a real drought like we get out here would quickly escalate into a crisis.

 

I was talking about the relative water use habits between Georgia and California with my gfriend earlier. She said that she was shocked when she moved here from Cali. She could not believe how wasteful people were/are.

 

So my contention is that because it is a recurring problem in Cali, people (excluding farmers on the Rio Grande) are aware of the possibility of drought and do more to conserve water.

Whatever you believe the cause of global warming is, or even if its "increased variability" rather than "warming", its going to be downright uncomfortable in the future.

 

Instead of wasting breath arguing about the cause or even what it is, don'tcha think it would be a good idea to get a move on on building more reservoirs???

 

Bias for action,

Buffy

 

I agree that we need action Buffy, but I don't know that building more reservoirs is the right answer, though it may be.

 

What is interesting is that Lake Oconee, about 60 miles east of Atlanta, is full to the brim. Why? Because that reservoir is owned by The Southern Company (the regional power giant). So what's different about Lake Lanier, Atlanta's drinking water reservoir? It's run by the Army Corps of Engineers. They are bound by federal law to provide a certain amount of flow for downstream areas in Florida and Alabama. Why you ask? The Endangered Species Act. Have a look at this article, quite a quagmire (especially for environmentalists such as myself):

Lawmakers propose lifting species protections in drought | ajc.com

[Buffy]

...So what's different about Lake Lanier, Atlanta's drinking water reservoir? It's run by the Army Corps of Engineers. They are bound by federal law to provide a certain amount of flow for downstream areas in Florida and Alabama. Why you ask? The Endangered Species Act....

Ha! We had the opposite problem here, where Cheney and Rove apparently pressed the US Bureau of Reclamation to hold the water back for their corporate farming buddies poor needy family farmers to use in the dry part of the year, that resulted in an enormous fish kill of salmon, that's not just bad for the poor salmon that the tree, er, salmon-huggers worry about, but caused a huge loss in the salmon fishing industry on the northern California/Oregon coast.

 

Sounds like somebody needs to catch up on the law of unintended consequences!

 

We had to destroy the village in order to save it,

Buffy

[Zythryn]

Buffy, are the reservoirs rain filled, aquifer filled, glacial/snowpack runoff filled or something else?

I am curious:)

If the reservoirs are capturing rain water and storing I would think this could be used to great advantage in many parts of the US.

They are bound by federal law to provide a certain amount of flow for downstream areas in Florida and Alabama. Why you ask? The Endangered Species Act. Have a look at this article, quite a quagmire (especially for environmentalists such as myself):

I saw that article, unintended consequences indeed!

I am curious though if there are any other differences or if everything else is identical?

[freeztar]

Ha! We had the opposite problem here, where Cheney and Rove apparently pressed the US Bureau of Reclamation to hold the water back for their corporate farming buddies poor needy family farmers to use in the dry part of the year, that resulted in an enormous fish kill of salmon

 

I remember reading about this several weeks ago. IIRC, some groups were suing Cheney. :cup:

 

that's not just bad for the poor salmon that the tree, er, salmon-huggers worry about, but caused a huge loss in the salmon fishing industry on the northern California/Oregon coast.

Not to mention the smell...

Sounds like somebody needs to catch up on the law of unintended consequences!

Our resource management history is rife with unintended consequences. That's one of the reasons that I feel the study of Ecology is so important. :)

We had to destroy the village in order to save it,

Buffy

 

Or in this case, we had to have brown yards to save the mussels.

[freeztar]

I saw that article, unintended consequences indeed!

I am curious though if there are any other differences or if everything else is identical?

 

Any other differences between what? Buffy's story(CA) and mine(GA)?

 

In this current issue, the Governor is threatening to sue the Corps if they do not stop their water letting at the dam. The *entire* *bipartisan* Ga Congress *unanimously* :cup: decided to produce legislation allowing an exemption to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). How long do you suppose that will take to go into effect? The irony is that there is a clause in the ESA that grants the Secretary of the Interior the power to temporarily abolish the ESA for incidental takes. This is a case of incidental takes. They would not be *trying* to kill the mussels by holding back water, it would merely be a side-effect, an incidental take. Furthermore, the mussels live along several tributaries to the Chattahoochee River (the river going into and out of Lake Lanier) so even if the outflow from the dam was cut off, it would not spell extirpation for the mussels.

 

So perhaps someone should phone Mr. Kempthorne...

[Buffy]

are the reservoirs rain filled, aquifer filled, glacial/snowpack runoff filled or something else? I am curious:)

Mostly snow pack capture and rain run-off. They're all in the mountains so there's no aquifer to obtain.

 

The Sierras are an amazing thing and of course we've got lots of interesting history surrounding our water wars (Bill Mullholland, "Chinatown", Mono Lake etc.).

 

In Los Angeles though you'll find a lot of dams that are solely for flood control (e.g. Sepulveda Dam at the foot of the Tujunga Wash). There's a fascinating chapter on this in John McPhee's "Control of Nature."

 

But girl don't they warn ya, it pours, man it pours, :P

Buffy

[HydrogenBond]

I live in northern Florida about an hour or so from the Georgia border. This area was under drought over the past several years with a lot of forest fires in the srping. A few weeks ago we recieved 12-20 inches of rain due to a nor'easter, with some places, close-by, getting 16 inches in two days. I only got about 12 inches during those two peak days. When this is averaged into the yearly total, the numbers hide the inpact of drought.

 

Water has still been relatively plentiful here due to the St John's river and the aquafirs. All that rain water, drained off within a day or two and now things look normal again. Since the water ban, near the beginning of the summer, one can only irrigate their lawns twice a week, using no more than 1 inch each day. Before then, one could leave the sprinklers running. Many were on timers, running even during afternoon thunderstorms. The soil is sandy and the sun is hot, so the water doesn't stay in the ground.

 

What is sort of interesting about this area is the St John's River. This river runs from south to north, whereas most rivers go from north to south. It hooks into Lake Okeechobee and its surround swamp, in lower central Florida. The river is up to 2-3mi wides near where I am, and is subject to tidal flows, with high-low tide partially changing river direction. Between the ocean output and lake-swamp input, its stays relatively steady, heavy rain or drought. Atlanta should see if Florida will allow them to tap the St John's river. There is enough to share.

[Turtle]

It's pretty bad here in Atlanta. :evil:

The Associated Press: Drought Tightens Its Grip on Southeast

 

 

;)

 

They're talking about issuing mandatory water restrictions which makes me very happy. Why you ask? Because most times, people don't know what they have until it is gone. I'm hoping this situation will foster better water practices amongst the general population. We'll see...

 

I watched a report yesterday, or such a matter, on the Atlanta lake running dry and the focus was on people turning other people in for watering violations. Apparently there is a call-in radio show dedicating time to just complaints? I understood them to say no outdoor watering is allowed? Industries having to shut down in Atlanta?

 

Anyway, it sounds like some people are as much in danger from fighting as thirst. An ounce of prevention is worth a gallon of cure? :P

[Cedars]

I popped in my RLUA disk for info on your area. This particular Land Use Area includes the western 1/2 of N.C. S.C. and about 2/3rds of Va. and about 1/3 of Georgia. Heres some of the data:

 

The total withdrawals average 12,720 million gallons per day

(48,145 million liters per day). This MLRA ranks third among

all of the MLRAs in total amount of water used. About 4

percent is from ground water sources, and 96 percent is from

surface water sources.

 

Industry and thermoelectric

power plants use most of the surface water in this area.

 

Following are the estimated withdrawals of freshwater by use

in this MLRA:

Public supply—surface water, 11.1%; ground water, 1.1%

Livestock—surface water, 0.7%; ground water, 0.2%

Irrigation—surface water, 0.5%; ground water, 0.1%

Other—surface water, 83.9%; ground water, 2.5%

 

What I am wondering is, what kind of water intensive industry do you have going on in that area to be putting such a high demand on the water supply?

[freeztar]

I live in northern Florida about an hour or so from the Georgia border. This area was under drought over the past several years with a lot of forest fires in the srping. A few weeks ago we recieved 12-20 inches of rain due to a nor'easter, with some places, close-by, getting 16 inches in two days. I only got about 12 inches during those two peak days. When this is averaged into the yearly total, the numbers hide the inpact of drought.

 

Water has still been relatively plentiful here due to the St John's river and the aquafirs. All that rain water, drained off within a day or two and now things look normal again. Since the water ban, near the beginning of the summer, one can only irrigate their lawns twice a week, using no more than 1 inch each day. Before then, one could leave the sprinklers running. Many were on timers, running even during afternoon thunderstorms. The soil is sandy and the sun is hot, so the water doesn't stay in the ground.

 

What is sort of interesting about this area is the St John's River. This river runs from south to north, whereas most rivers go from north to south. It hooks into Lake Okeechobee and its surround swamp, in lower central Florida. The river is up to 2-3mi wides near where I am, and is subject to tidal flows, with high-low tide partially changing river direction. Between the ocean output and lake-swamp input, its stays relatively steady, heavy rain or drought. Atlanta should see if Florida will allow them to tap the St John's river. There is enough to share.

 

The great thing about Florida is that aquifers cover much of the state.

Underground

The Floridan aquifer is one of the most productive aquifers in the world in terms of total water yield.. The thick limestone of the Floridan aquifer underlie all of the state and extend into parts of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Most of the Floridan aquifer lies beneath several hundred feet of sediments. For much of the state, it is the principal source of water supply. It is generally not usable in the region south of Lake Okeechobee due to its high salt content. There, as well as in the extreme western part of the state and along much of both coasts, other aquifers are used to supply fresh water.

 

Nonetheless, I don't think it's practical to pump/haul water that far.

[freeztar]

I watched a report yesterday, or such a matter, on the Atlanta lake running dry and the focus was on people turning other people in for watering violations. Apparently there is a call-in radio show dedicating time to just complaints? I understood them to say no outdoor watering is allowed? Industries having to shut down in Atlanta?

 

Anyway, it sounds like some people are as much in danger from fighting as thirst. An ounce of prevention is worth a gallon of cure? ;)

 

I've got a creek in my back yard, and a fire hydrant in the front yard. I'll be alright at least... :P

[Zythryn]

Any other differences between what? Buffy's story(CA) and mine(GA)?

 

No, the difference between the two lakes you mentioned. You said the difference was that one was allowed to drain so the river downstream stayed at a certain level. Is that the only difference though?

Intersesting info Cedar about the water use. Freeztar, are there multiple high water usage plants in the area? Coal, Nuclear, or manufacturing?

I didn't realize power plants or industry used THAT much water. However it makes sense if there are a lot in the area.

Could be another benifit to solar/wind power generation:)

[freeztar]

No, the difference between the two lakes you mentioned. You said the difference was that one was allowed to drain so the river downstream stayed at a certain level. Is that the only difference though?

Intersesting info Cedar about the water use. Freeztar, are there multiple high water usage plants in the area? Coal, Nuclear, or manufacturing?

I didn't realize power plants or industry used THAT much water. However it makes sense if there are a lot in the area.

Could be another benifit to solar/wind power generation:)

 

For Lake Lanier, I don't know of any high water usage facilities, besides the hydroelectric dam of course. Cedars report seemed to take info from the northern third of Georgia and I suspect it factored in the Etowah River system, which feeds Lake Alatoona (also very low levels). That area of Georgia (NW) is renowned for carpet manufacturing. Most of these textile facilities are located on major rivers and consume LOTS of water.

Without knowing the exact sample area for Cedars' data, I would hazard a guess that much of the commercial water use that is shown is due to carpet and rug manufacturing.

[Cedars]

Carpets/rugs makes sense. I wonder how much water conservation went into the design aspects of these plants when they were constructed, and if that might be an area of improvement that should be looked at.

 

Heres a map of the area the data comes from. Its the orange area:

[freeztar]

Carpets/rugs makes sense. I wonder how much water conservation went into the design aspects of these plants when they were constructed, and if that might be an area of improvement that should be looked at.

 

Heres a map of the area the data comes from. Its the orange area:

 

Hmmm...that area actually does not include Dalton, GA ("Carpet Capital of the World"). Thus, I would have to guess that the commercial water usages in the orange area of Georgia are from industries in and around Atlanta. It would be nice to see a breakdown of the "other" uses.