Secondary settling basin at one of the post's three aging water-treatment plants. (Dave Bender)
Fort Benning near Columbus today inaugurated an upgraded, higher-flow water treatment system, fed from the Chattahoochee River. But officials say the post's use won't affect the river's drought-strained water levels upstream.
The step is part of an upgrade for the post's three aging water treatment facilities, which had previously only drawn water from the nearby Upatoi Creek.
Army officials say they expect a sharp increase in usage in coming years: 30,000 troops and their families that will join their ranks, as an entire armor school from Fort Knox transfers here as part of the nationwide Base Realignment and Closure program (BRAC).
Post garrison Commander Colonel Keith Lovejoy is responsible for coordinating the project with state and local agencies.
Lovejoy says he doesn't foresee future water usage conflicts with the Army Corps of Engineers, and says they are planning their water usage together:
“They are controlling all of our growth here. they're the ones that are issuing the contracts here; they're the ones making sure the pipes are right, they're making sure that we have enough water.”Lovejoy adds that all of the agencies dealing with the issue, meet regularly to ensure the 184,000 acre training base has enough water for the nearly 110,000 troops that pass through it's gates annually:
“...As a matter of fact, once a month we get everybody together: the Corps of Engineers, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Columbus Water Works, Flint Electricity; just put everybody together in the same room to make sure that the impact, and what everybody's doing to everybody else is working.”Dr. Carol Couch of the Environmental Protection Division says the post's water needs won't significantly affect the Chattahoochee's water levels.
Couch says the area has six-to-10 times the water flow of upstream communities in the Atlanta area. She says state meteorologists see the drought continuing this summer, and is encouraging Georgia's residents make conserving water a regular part of their life:
“Conserving ought to be something we do every day, and adapting and modifying how we use water. and it isn't really a radical change in lifestyle; it's just something that ought to be as natural as – for most people today – clipping a seat belt together.”Columbus Water Works officials say the city purifies and returns about 90 percent of the water it uses to the river, and don't foresee the post's expected usage to be a problem.
Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning, and the effects of the expected BRAC move to the area.
