All Things Considered Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Join GPB Radio tonight for All Things Considered. Plans for the future of Georgia's water supply. Plus, abortion, business law and more talk of a "wise Latina woman" ... details on Day Three of hearings with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. These stories and more tonight on All Things Considered with Rickey Bevington.

State Water, Sewer Projects Ready To Roll

State and federal officials have signed off on multiple sewer and water projects designed to improve infrastructure systems throughout Georgia. The 11 projects have a price tag of $91-million. Governor Sonny Perdue says more than $40-million in federal stimulus dollars will help fund five of those projects.

The projects are located in Cobb, Colquitt, and Gwinnett counties, along with the cities of Camilla, Hiawassee, Port Wentworth, Portal, Sparta, Stillmore, Valdosta and West Point.

Barrow County Needs Water Plan

A water study committee says Barrow County will run short of drinkable water by 2020 if the county government doesn't start planning soon to increase the supply. Experts say there are at least 10 potential reservoir sites in the county that can be developed. Barrow County has the right to take about 11 million gallons a day from the Bear Creek Reservoir. Meanwhile, counties throughout the state are easing outdoor water restrictions, including two more served by the Bear Creek Reservoir - Clarke and Oconee.

(Associated Press)

Boil-Water Alert in South Georgia

Health officials in two south Georgia counties have issued a boil-water alert for residents who receive drinking water from private wells. Health officials in Tift and Turner counties say many private wells likely were contaminated by heavy rainfall from Friday and Saturday. Customers are advised to bring their water to a full boil for at least two minutes before consuming. Another option is to use bottled water.

Push to Ease Stream Buffers

The Georgia Legislature is seeking to soften mandatory buffers aimed at protecting Georgia's waterways from pollution and development. The House voted 106-58 Thursday to remove the buffers around an untold number of unnamed tributaries - or ephemeral streams - that crisscross the state. State law provides for a 25 foot buffer along all streams and as much as 150 feet for watersheds providing drinking water. Supporters say many of the streams are little more than ditches and that the buffers restrict growth and hamper property rights. Critics say loosening rules could threaten the state's clean water.

(Associated Press)

Vacant SC-mill must stop water draw from Augusta Canal

A judge has ordered a vacant textile mill in South Carolina to stop using water from the Augusta Canal for electricity. Avondale Mills no longer makes fabrics, but its turbines produce up to $1,200 in electricity daily. The city of Augusta sued when the company refused to stop running the turbines despite closure of the mill. The city argued it needs the water the mill is using to help meet federal mandates for water levels in nearby Augusta Shoals.

Jackson County files suit over water

A northeast Georgia county has filed a lawsuit claiming its neighbor uses too much water from a regional reservoir in times of drought. Jackson County wants a judge to agree that the Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority allows Athens-Clarke County to exceed its rightful amount of water from the Bear Creek Reservoir. The suit says the four-county authority has not adjusted withdrawls to account for the drought. Other partners in the authority say Jackson County officials are misreading the agreement.

Macon's water tastes best

The City of Macon has the best tasting water in Georgia. Judges from the Georgia Association of Water Professionals blindly sampled H2o from finalists in nine Georgia districts. They called Macon’s water clean and crisp with zero taste. In May Macon’s water will compete with water samples at the international finals in San Diego.

Georgia set back in water dispute

A setback for Georgia in its decades-long feud over water with neighboring states. A federal judge overseeing the water battle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida says top on his agenda – whether Georgia has any rights to continue using Lake Lanier as Atlanta's main water source. Lake Lanier is in north Georgia but is a federal reservoir. Judge Paul A. Magnuson says that decision could render the other legal questions in the case obsolete.

Drought worsening across state

The designation of 'exceptional' drought has returned to northeast Georgia, while the southeast portion of the state has now slipped into drought. A new report from the state’s climatologist says some scattered, strong thunderstorms during July brought only localized relief to areas. The ‘exceptional’ category--drought conditions seen only once in 50 to 100 years--is now in place for 16 northeast Georgia counties. ‘Extreme’ drought conditions still exist for 13 north Georgia counties. David Stooksbury is Georgia’s climatologist.

"What we can expect as the summer continues is at least continued slow dropping of water levels across the state, unless we have a series of tropical weather events".

Stooksbury says even the six counties of coastal Georgia are classified as ‘abnormally dry’.

Several water providers get rollback on restrictions

State environmental officials have given approval to a group of 15 water providers for a rollback of certain water restrictions. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the providers all applied for looser restrictions within the past two weeks. A state official says each government had to prove it still has a good water supply with conservation measures in place. The list of providers with eased restrictions includes Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, and Walker counties.

Federal biologists say Georgia can keep more water

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to keep more water upstream in Georgia got the blessing of federal biologists Monday. U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say storing more water in Georgia's reservoirs and releasing less downstream would not jeopardize the existence of Gulf sturgeon and three types of mussel. The adjusted water plan was announced in April, allowing for reservoirs along the Chattahooche to store 50 percent of the inflow into the river basin. The Chattahooche runs into the downstream Apalachicola River, which in turn runs into the Gulf of Mexico.

Utilities raise rates as conservation cuts profits

Utility rates are spiking as water companies work to make up lost revenue from this year's drought. The revenue drop is due largely to people using less water in an effort to conserve. In Gainesville north of Atlanta, the utility system's debt is set to rise 12.5 % and revenue is down 7.2 %. Atlanta is aiming to raise rates 27.5%.

NY county using water to woo southern companies

The drought in north Georgia is getting one upstate New York county to market its abundance of water to southern companies.

With the falls in New York's Niagara County there's plenty of water, and officials there want business in the South to know about it. They're planning a media campaign highlighting the area's wealth of power and fresh water.

Fred Teeter is with the Niagara County Office for Economic Development. He says if the drought continues, businesses in the South may need an option.

"Building permits for industry are starting to be held-off or denied, so that becomes a serious problem for everyone. It's our intention to certainly just make southeast companies aware of the availability of water in our area".

Teeter has visited at least four southern states, including Georgia and North Carolina which have been hardest hit by the drought. But Teeter admits that when it comes to nice weather, the South definitely has more of it.

Georgia Water Update

Recent rains are helping quench Georgia’s thirst for water. The state has received more rain during this winter than the previous one; Lake Allatoona is at normal pool, and Athens-Clarke County is relaxing its watering restrictions.

Chris Purvis, from the Army Corps of Engineers, says despite Georgia's drought, the water levels are higher than normal for this time of year.

"We're basically trying to even this out, to keep a two foot curve so we're about two feet a head of schedule. But for us to maintain that, we will have to at least keep our historical average of what we get- normally get in a month of rain fall."

Purvis expects Lake Allatoona to reach its normal summer volume - the Lake needs 5 more feet of water.

In Athens-Clarke county officials are finally relaxing watering bans, allowing pools to be topped off and some hand watering. Officials say the new restrictions go into effect this weekend. Athens was the first to enforce a no-watering ban and still, the watering bans are stricter in Athens- Clarke County than the rest of the state.

Corps cuts Lanier water releases

Starting today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will cut-back on water releases out of Lake Lanier. While not as much as state officials would like, the amount might still add up to 65-million gallons of water a day saved. The Corps since December has released only enough water downstream from Lanier to satisfy metro Atlanta’s drinking needs and the minimum flow required by the state. In a statement from the state’s Enviromental Protection Division Director, Carol Couch says she appreciates the Corps’ evaluation of her request to cut releases through April 30th.

Perdue not sunny on water talks

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said today he is "less than optimistic" about the success of talks on how to share water with Florida and Alabama. The three states have been fighting over water rights in the region for two decades. Perdue also said he does not believe Alabama and Florida share Georgia's urgency to make a deal. He asserted that Georgia's drinking water shortage is more critical than the water problems faced by its neighbors.

State EPD asks for water cut out of Lanier

The Army Corps of Engineers has received a letter from Georgia officials requesting the flow of water out of Lake Lanier be cut-down to help the needs of metro Atlanta. The state’s Enviromental Protection Director wants the Corps to keep an additional 130-million gallons of water a day in the federal reservoir through April. The letter says this move is needed to "preserve valuable storage in Lanier for future use during this exceptional drought".

Meanwhile, it appears a water-sharing deal between Georgia, Alabama and Florida will not be done by the previously set deadline of today. The Interior Secretary is mediating the dispute--he says he expects to receive a status report today instead. Any new deadline being set depends on where the three sides are in talks.

Georgia will miss water deadline

Georgia, Alabama and Florida won't meet a deadline for settling their 20-year fight over sharing water. The Bush Administration set tomorrow's deadline for the three states to announce a long-term pact. But instead of announcing a long-term pact on Friday as planned, the states' three Governors will offer more of a status report.

Green light to Corps for water manual update

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now has the ‘green-light’ to begin the process of updating a 50-year-old manual that manages a critical river basin serving Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.

The Secretary of the Army says the Corps will start work on a new water control plan for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. This is the basin that includes Lake Lanier, and serves water users downstream into Florida and Alabama.

Currently, the Corps uses a 1958 manual that does not account for a population boom in the region, and the Endangered Species Act. The original manual focuses mainly on flood control, navigation, and recreation.

Georgia, Florida and Alabama have been fighting over water in the basin for well over a decade. Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson says a new manual will help lead to a resolution in the dispute.

"Any tri-state water compact the Governors agree to, is going to be conditional to having a modernized water control manual. It really accelerates the process forward, and I think it puts the pressure--appropriately so--on the states to come to an agreement".

Corps officials say the process of updating the manual could take up to three years.