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Don't Let Water-Wasting Georgia Ruin Florida's Apalachicola Bay

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2007

Georgia has no one but itself to blame for its water crisis and Gov. Sonny Perdue's efforts to cut water flow to Florida and Alabama should be summarily rejected by federal regulators.

The state, like much of the nation, is suffering a severe drought. Lake Lanier, the reservoir that supplies Atlanta's drinking water, has shriveled, leaving docks and boat sheds high and dry. Ill-prepared politicians like Perdue are flopping about like bluegill in a dried-up pond.

Perdue has been railing about the water the Army Corps of Engineers releases downstream to sustain Florida's Apalachicola River and Alabama's Chattahoochee River, which are downstream. Perdue pretends the water is being released solely to ensure the health of endangered mussels, and some Georgia members of Congress even want to scuttle the Endangered Species Act.

Water supplies are indeed low, yet corps officials say there is no danger that Georgia will run out of potable water anytime soon. Moreover, the assertion that a lowly mussel is the sole cause of the water flows is false.

In fact, the welfare of the entire watershed ecosystem, which includes Apalachicola Bay, one of the nation's most productive marine sanctuaries, is at stake. Fresh water is essential to an estuary's health.

Moreover, the water-release levels are determined largely by the needs of a Florida hydroelectric plant and an Alabama nuclear plant.

As Alabama Gov. Bob Riley points out, more than 800,000 households depend on the Farley Nuclear Plant and the current water flow is the minimum required for its operation.

Gov. Charlie Crist this week strongly urged President Bush to reject Perdue's campaign to divert water from Florida. Crist wrote the president that Apalachicola Bay supports a commercial fishing industry that has an estimated $200 million impact and that is already in decline because of reduced fresh water flow.

Further undermining Perdue's attempts to make Florida and Alabama pay the price for Georgia's water shortage is his state's feeble water-conservation efforts. It waited until September to ban outdoor watering. The governor recently ordered a 10 percent cut in water usage, but the state had lollygagged throughout the year without attempting to conserve.

As The New York Times reports, 'All summer, more than a year after the drought began, fountains sprayed and football fields were watered, prisoners got two showers a day ...' It's clear that Georgia leaders, who have allowed sprawling growth without any regard for future water demands, have been reckless and wasteful.

Florida, too, has allowed growth to overwhelm its water sources. But the state also has pushed conservation and the development of new water sources to minimize environmental impacts. Tampa Bay area leaders, in particular, have been proactive.

And in Florida, water restrictions are imposed quickly when a drought occurs.

Perdue needs to get his water-supply and growth-management house in order. He shouldn't expect Florida and Alabama to put their resources and economies at risk so Georgia can continue its water-wanton ways.

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