The newspapers are beginning to issue shrill warnings about our looming drought.
I'd take them a bit more seriously if (a) we hadn't had at least 10" surplus rainfall for each of the past two years, and (b) we were more than 3" below average rainfall for the first six months of this year.
Metro Atlanta's problem isn't a lack of rain--if you look at the three-year period, we're about a foot and a half above average--but the absolute inability of Atlanta to implement a meaningful and effective water control program to make use of the copious quantities of rain we receive.
Our average rainfall is just a tad more than 55" per year; that's just over four and a half feet of rain each year. An adequate reservoir and rainwater retention system should be ample to meet the needs of the growing metro Atlanta community without any problem--but that would require that someone actually plan ahead and require builders to contribute to the establishment of a water supply solution.
So as of now, we're seeing a lot of outdoor-watering bans, and there are talks of other water restrictions. Yeah, it's a horrible problem--we've had only 175"+ of rain since January of 2004. Life in the great Southeastern desert is pretty rough...
1 comment:
Builders are too busy overpopulating the metro Atlanta area to be concerned with such trifles as water supply. All these subdivisions are being thrown together at the expense of infrastructure, safety and public services. The county commissions are too cowardly and busy getting their pockets lined to issue a moratorium on residential zoning.
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