Atlanta may need Upstate  water
Some fear drought will drive Georgia to take water to  slake growing metro 
area's thirst

Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:00 am  


By  Anna Simon
CLEMSON BUREAU
_asimon at greenvillenews.com_ (mailto:asimon at greenvillenews.com) 

CLEMSON -- An hour southwest of the clear blue waters of Lake Keowee,  which 
provides drinking water for many Upstate residents, Atlanta's main  water 
source -- Lake Lanier -- is drying up.  
A relative puddle surrounded by acres of dusty red clay, the lake that  
supplies water for more than 3 million people could be drained in four  months, The 
Associated Press reported. After weeks of watering bans and  warnings for 
residents to take shorter showers, some towns now are  threatening unprecedented 
rationing.  
"We're way beyond limiting outdoor water use. We're talking about  indoor 
water use," said Jeff Knight, an environmental engineer in the  college town of 
Athens, Ga., which is preparing last-ditch rationing rules  as its reservoir 
runs dry.  
Here in the Upstate, lakes Keowee, Jocassee and Hartwell are low.  Utilities 
including Duke Energy and the city of Clemson have asked their  customers to 
voluntarily conserve water, but residents haven't seen the  dire restrictions 
that face their neighbors to the south.      


 
(http://gcirm.greenvilleonline.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/sc-greenville.greenvilleonline.com/news/article.htm/73042700/300x250_1/OasDefault/23579
-USAT-API-300x250-News/300x250.gif/34373065363031633436373931643230) Bill 
Graham, president of FOLKS, which  stands for the Friends of Lake Keowee Society, 
fears the Savannah River  basin could be siphoned off to quench metro 
Atlanta's growing thirst.  
"The battle will escalate the demand for an interbasin transfer from  the 
Upstate lakes to supply Atlanta's unbridled growth," Graham said.  
"It needs to be resolved so there is some formula that affords proper  use of 
water in the basin. Otherwise, you have these chaotic events, and  everybody 
is scrambling."  
Graham and other Upstate residents who share his concern plan to be  present 
today when the Joint Savannah River Basin Committee meets at  Clemson 
University's Madren Center at 10 a.m.  
The meeting is open to the public.  
Committee members were appointed by the governors of the two states  that 
share the Savannah River basin -- South Carolina, where the  headwaters begin in 
the Oconee County mountains, and Georgia, where the  water flows to the 
Atlantic Ocean.  
Concerns that link the varied users of the waterway include water  quality in 
the Lowcountry; lake levels in the Upstate; salt water  intrusion in the 
Savannah Harbor and Hilton Head; and the impact of  drought on electric 
generation, said Hank Stallworth, chief of staff of  the state Department of Natural 
Resources.  
The committee will hear presentations and discuss the drought and plans  that 
each state's committee is making, Stallworth said, and consider where  to go 
from here.  
Stallworth doesn't share Graham's concern about a Georgia water grab,  at 
least not to the same degree.  
Unlike South Carolina, where Greenville uses an interbasin transfer to  draw 
water from Keowee, interbasin transfers are against the law in  Georgia, 
Stallworth said.  
But he said, "Laws can be changed, so it's of some concern."  
The drought is an immediate concern.  
The Midlands and the Upstate had the driest July-to-September stretch  since 
records were kept in 1948, and the year so far is the third-driest  ever, said 
Hope Mizzell, state climatologist.  
October is typically dry in the Upstate with an average of 3.8 inches  of 
rain, according to the National Weather Service.  
The long-range forecast calls for below-normal precipitation this  winter, 
Mizzell said.  
All of South Carolina is in severe drought, with the exception of  Beaufort 
and Jasper counties, which are in moderate drought, according to  the state 
climatologist's office.  
There has been no move yet to declare the state in extreme drought and  call 
for mandatory water conservation, but Mizzell said three of six  drought 
indicators show the Upstate already in extreme drought  
"We're getting to the point where we need people to really start paying  
attention now," Mizzell said. "People need to conserve water voluntarily  to avoid 
mandatory."  
The Associated Press  contrib




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