Georgia Loses to Alabama and Florida
In the water wars, that is. The New York Times reports that Georgia has lost the federal court case in which they were petitioning to take more water from Lake Lanier. Florida and Alabama claim that this action would siphon water from downstream Alabama and Florida.
On the one hand, as an Atlanta resident, I do worry about where our water will be coming from a year from now if the drought continues. On the other hand, I think that this serves Atlanta right for not planning better for water usage in the metro area. Our unbridled, unplanned building has gone on for too long, and this just highlights the problem.
Speaking of water… has anyone notice the past month or so, the water seems to be more chlorine-y? I wonder if, as water levels get lower, they are having to treat it more.
No, but that is really interesting.
I haven’t noticed chlorineyness, but then again I Brita everything I drink.
As for just desserts and unplanned building, I agree. But do you think this will actually inspire people of the region – who are the most utterly allergic to planning I’ve ever seen – to change?
The water from Lake Lanier has always been pumped from the bottom of the dam, so there should be no change in water treatment, at least not until it’s literally at the dregs.
It’s unfortunate that the folks at the statehouse will need several more wake-up calls before they actually do something drastically sensible, like stopping new developments until the water supply is sorted out.
A couple of things. First, it should be clear to anybody traversing the exurbs that developers run the state of Georgia. We have poor planning because our politicians, especially those outside of Dekalb and Fulton counties are in the pockets of builders and developers.
Notice the roster of those killed in the plane crash in North Carolina last week? A Paulding county commissioner and two Paulding County developers were among those killed. They were heading out on a hunting trip in Virginia. I wonder who was paying and how much. Is it too early for those questions?
Anyway, back to the question at hand. We in Georgia have crappy land use and development controls (and a severe natural resource problem) because of developers who resist such controls at every turn.
Great comments, folks. I think everyone makes some good points.