Atlanta Water Shortage

The AJC has an article in today’s paper that discusses how much people have cut back to help conserve water in the metro area.  It’s a pretty good article, looking at both conversation and current restrictions. The online version doesn’t include it, but there is a chart in the paper (page C8) which I’ve included a photo of.  Does it look familiar?

I have two problems with their chart:

• It doesn’t include April data.  It was easy enough to update this chart with data from April 1st, but for some reason they didn’t do that.  March saw a pretty good rise in the lake level, and I’m guessing they felt that would hurt their story, so they left it out.
• They didn’t give us credit.  We try to always give credit to our sources, but they didn’t feel the need to do that.  Coincidence, you say?  I don’t think so.  Stacy Shelton, the author of the article, e-mailed me a few days ago and said “We loved your Lanier chart so much we stole the idea“.  I assumed “stole” was being used playfully, but I was obviously wrong.

The data obviously isn’t mine (it comes from the USACE), and the AJC recreated the graph from scratch (adding an extra year to it), but it’s still pretty weak to blatantly copy an idea like that without a bit of credit.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been upset with the AJC.  One of my first posts on this blog called into question some numbers that they apparently made up.  Despite repeated e-mails to the author of that article and some other folks at the AJC, I never heard a word from them.  I guess they were too embarrassed to admit their mistake.

Due to the almost-normal rainfall we received in March, Gwinnett County has decided to relax hand watering restrictions to match the guidelines put out by the state of Georgia.  Specifically (as posted on the LWB):

That means you can use a hose with a hand-activated nozzle to water your plants for up to 25 minutes three days per week, on an odd-even schedule. People with even numbered addresses can water on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, while people with odd numbered addressed can water on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. All watering must be done between midnight and 8 AM. Food gardens can be watered anytime, and the you are not allowed to use your 25 minute window to wash your car.

While all of north Georgia received below-normal rainfall in March, it was pretty close:

• Atlanta recorded 5.17 inches of rain, a quarter inch less than normal.
• Gainesville had 5.25 inches of rainfall, 87% of normal.
• Athens had 3.48 inches of rain, or an 1.5 inches less than normal.

The short-term forecast is looking pretty good, but we’ve still got a steep road in front of us.

A story at 11Alive tells us that Gwinnett County will allow landscapers, construction companies and others to take reclaimed wastewater from the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center and use it for irrigation, street washing, sewer cleaning, etc.

Once again, it seems that some people don’t understand how things work. From the article:

Every day, 18 million gallons of waste water is treated at Gwinnett’s F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center until it is clean enough to place in the Chattahoochee River. Until now, the river is exactly where the water has gone, where it has floated gently away from Bradley [local landscaper] and other businesses that need it for watering lawns or street washing.

They make it sound like putting water back into the river is a bad thing, while the opposite is actually true. The more you put into the river, the less they need to release from Lake Lanier to keep the flow rate high enough in Florida. If you put less back into the river, more water will need to be released from Lanier to compensate.

That being said, I don’t think this will make a huge difference. The water can only be taken away by certified tank truck drivers, not via pipes, which will greatly reduce how much is lost. However, it sounds like landscapers are excited to waste their share of water. Bradley Griffin of Russell Landscape Group said:

“The sky’s the limit with just how much our company can use. Multiply that by all of the other landscape companies and construction companies, this is a big deal.”

Yea!  Waste as much as you want!

However, water is already pumped from there to two golf courses, a county park, a city park and the Mall of Georgia. According to the AJC, those facilities used 209 million gallons of water last year. That makes a difference.

I’m guessing that those facilities are able to freely use the water for irrigation, since the water was just going to be “wasted” by going down the river. Anyone know what kind of restrictions those businesses are under for using that water?

Effective yesterday, Cobb County has eased their water restrictions and allowed backyard burning until May 1.  In addition, some watering will be allowed.

The details:

• Residents can hand-water landscaping by using a hose with a shutoff valve for 25 minutes on an odd-even schedule based on street address. Watering times are 4- 9 a.m. Even and unnumbered addresses may water Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. No watering is permitted on Friday, regardless of your address.
• Rates for irrigation-only water accounts rise to the most expensive tier: $5.40 per thousand gallons, from $3.52 per thousand gallons.
• Fines go into effect for wasting water, such as by having a broken irrigation system, allowing excessive water to run off property or leaving a hose unattended without a shutoff nozzle. Fine for the second offense is $100; fines for any offense after that are $500.
• Backyard burning, which requires keeping a water hose nearby to control the fire, will be permitted until the state’s regular summer ban returns May 1.

Starting April1 , pools can be filled and topped off as needed.  Also, car washes may continue to operate if they use a water recycling system and pressure washing may be performed by a licensed professional prior to a “procedure” (painting, staining, etc) or for health and safety reasons, though pressure washing is still not allowed for aesthetics.

Starting on April 1, three-day-a-week hand watering will be allowed between midnight and 10am, though you won’t be allowed to use sprinklers.  Professionally-installed landscaping can be watered three days a week as well, but you must take an online class at the Urban Agriculture Council’s Website before you’ll be allowed to do so.

Cities and counties could choose to continue the current water restrictions, but Gov. Perdue is advising them not to.

An announcement concerning swimming pool refilling is expected sometime this afternoon.

I’ve had a very strange series of e-mails with White Water regarding their water usage, restrictions, etc. It started with me asking a few simple questions via a form on their website. This was a few weeks ago, on about January 9.

I have a lot of users asking what your status will be for this summer, in regards to the drought. While things obviously could change, it looks likely that residential swimming pools won’t be allowed to open.

Where do things stand for you right now? If today was opening day, would you legally be allowed to open? What is the outlook for your normal opening today?

Any information you can provide would be great.

Thanks!

Mickey
Atlanta Water Shortage Blog
– other contact info… –

A few days later on January 11, the following message was sent from one Six Flags staffer to two others and I was copied on it (though it appears the copy was accidental).

H—,

I have a few of these email questions coming through our Six Flags Comment System. Do you want me to forward to you to address or will we have a standard message I can use to reply to them? I have little doubt as the summer nears we will get quite a few daily.

T—-

I figured that meant I’d hear something back soon, but nothing ever arrived. I gave them a few weeks, then wrote wrote to all three WW staffers on January 22 to try to get a status.

T—-,

You copied me on this e-mail about two weeks ago (by mistake?), but I still haven’t heard a word from you. Are you able to answer these questions, or do I need to look elsewhere for the answers?

Thanks,
Mickey

Today, more than three weeks after my initial contact, they finally responded.

Dear Mickey,

Thank you for your inquiry about Six Flags White Water regarding the recent news coverage about our water rides.

As you know guest safety and guest satisfaction are always our top priorities. At this time, we are still reviewing all of our options and continuing discussions with local and state officials, as all businesses are doing regarding their water use.

Six Flags White Water opens on May 24, and we’re looking forward to another great season. In fact, Six Flags White Water was recently voted one of the nation’s 10 best water parks by industry leader, Aquatics International. For more information on Six Flags White Water or to purchases a season pass, please visit www.sixflags.com/whitewater.

Again, thank you for your inquiry and we look forward to seeing you in 2008!

Sincerely,

H— —–
Six Flags White Water

What? It almost looks like they saw “water” in my e-mail and just sent me the standard reply. I didn’t think any of my questions were overly difficult, but maybe I was wrong.

All in all, I’m not very impressed with White Water. At least give us some decent information about what’s going on, rather than garbage about how great you are.

Blech.

This seems rather odd.  An article in today’s AJC talks about a plan to ease restrictions on outdoor watering, depsite Lake Lanier falling further below its normal (seasonal) level.

From the article:

A deal in the works could allow homeowners who take a short, online water conservation class to water their lawns and gardens during certain times. Landscape professionals who take a similar class — either online or in person — would be allowed to irrigate, within limits.

However, the article does a good job of looking at both sides.  Along with the information about the proposed easing of the restrictions, they also have some quotes from people on the other side of the fence.

But state climatologist David Stooksbury said the state may need to tighten water restrictions, not loosen them. In his drought update released Thursday, Stooksbury said the drought persists despite the recent rain and snow and there is a concern that there won’t be enough rain this winter and spring to build a cushion for the summer, when it is driest and water use spikes.

The president of the  Georgia Urban Agriculture Council, Mary Kay Woodworth, said that they need an answer by February 15 in order to give growers and garden centers time to stock up.  That certainly seems like a fair request.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this.   No timetable was given for a decision.

(note: Guest post by Craig Sears)

County Health Departments across the metro Atlanta area are rightfully concerned about the health hazards of unmaintained pools, which will occur if pools are not allowed to open this summer.  Unmaintained pools can quickly turn into breeding grounds for mosquitoes that spread West Nile virus, and bacteria.

The use of mosquito killing chemicals might help, but would be totally unenforceable, and installing pool covers would be very expensive and still may not prevent mosquitoes from propagating.

County Health Departments will be unable and unprepared to enforce proper pool maintenance by homeowners.  Draining pools is not a good solution either because:

1. Leaving a pool drained for an extended period of time (like the entire summer) can cause structural damage to the pool itself, without the weight of the water in it.
2. After the first rain, we’re back where we started, with a stagnant pool of water.
3. Why would we want to waste all the perfectly good water we have in our pools when we are in the middle of a drought?

According to John Gormley, there were 9 confirmed cases of West Nile in Fulton county in Summer 2007.  Furthermore, there is a new mosquito spread disease found in Europe now with much higher mortality rates.  He quoted 40-50% in a presentation he gave to the APSP (Association of Pool and Spa Professionals) on January 8 at the Georgia Pool and Spa Forum in Roswell.

I’ve asked John for further documentation about this new disease.  When I have further specific information, I will add comments to this article.

Craig

Most of the expected restrictions were passed yesterday, with the exception of Sandy Springs.  They were considering banning outdoor watering for all businesses, but decided not to do that yet.

Their reasoning makes sense — they get their water from the city of Atlanta, so they don’t feel that their businesses should have to squeeze tighter than the city does.

However, I think we’ll come to regret decisions like this if things get dire.  I tend to agree with their lone opposing council member, Karen Meinzen McEnerny, who said “We need to take leadership here, and not just go with the flow.”