Georgia's worsening drought means ground water levels are dropping to amounts usually seen only in late summer or early fall. Officials say it's not unusual for groundwater levels to drop as summer approaches; winter storms usually replenish the source. To get an idea of how low water levels are: the Suwanee River flows out of the Okeefenokee Swamp at around 1,600 gallons per second. This year it's down to a four-gallon-a-second trickle. But that didn't happen this past winter. The combination of an unusually warm spring and sparse rainfall has led state climatologist David Stooksbury to predict extreme temperature changes statewide this summer, as hot soils heat up their surroundings. "I do expect temperatures in North Georgia to be between 100 and 105. In South Georgia, between 108 and 115. Even in the mountains – in the mid 90s." With over half the state under severe drought conditions, officials say that barring a strong tropical storm, relief is unlikely any time soon.
FIRE'S EFFECT ON GA ECOSYSTEMS
Officials say so far this year, fires in Georgia have consumed more than four hundred and fifty thousand acres. Those fires -- along with one of the worst droughts Georgia's seen in decades -- mean the state's ground water levels are dropping. Stooksbury calls these events natural occurrences in the state's delicate ecological cycle. "Fire is good. It resets the clock. It regenerates the swamp. If you don't have fires in swamps they die." As for drought, Stooksbury says it a natural component of the southeast's climate system. Fire and drought serve an additional purpose as well. They help to eradicate invasive species giving native flora and fauna a better chance at survival.
NEIGHBORHOOD WATER POLICING
Last week, Atlanta city officials turned off the faucet on residential outdoor weekday watering. In Sandy Springs, parts of South Fulton County, and Atlanta, residential watering is restricted to midnight until 10 am. Officials elsewhere in the state, officials are getting tough with outdoor watering, as well. In Columbia County, east of Augusta, officials turned off the water supply to nearly 50 households which ignored repeated restrictions. Violators were turned in by their neighbors.
