Will a thirsty Atlanta try to drink our water? (Savannah River)

[jpak]

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/64773.html

Atlanta might be some 270 miles from South Carolina's Lowcountry, but its epic drought has local water officials watching the Southeast's largest city closely, fearful it might turn its gaze to the Savannah River.

The river, which spans South Carolina's border with Georgia, is a major source of drinking water for Beaufort and Jasper counties and portions of the coastal Peach State.

South Carolina water officials have long feared that Atlanta, with its robust and unbridled population growth and urban sprawl, would be forced to turn to the Savannah to slake its thirst.

Now, with Metro Atlanta more than 16 inches behind in annual rainfall, and its primary source of drinking water -- the 39,000-acre Lake Lanier -- drying up, the specter of the city tapping into the Savannah is less a question of "if" than "when," water officials say.

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[donsu]

1. get your defense plans ready for a fight

nt

[AndyA]

2. I say it's time to preemptively bomb the hell out of Atlanta to prevent them from having

water!

What the hell, if it's good enough for Iran, it should be good enough for Hotlanta, right?

:sarcasm:

I lived in Atlanta for a few years, and thought it was a great city. I hated to leave.

[Stuckinthebush]

3. Great? Perhaps an "OK" city...

Atlanta, to me, is the definition of a city gone wild. I find that it is a fine place to visit but I'd hate to live there. The traffic is insane and the suburbs lack soul. Then again, what suburbs do?

I will say this, I like what has happened in Midtown. It looks nice and seems rather eclectic. Virginia Highlands area is crazy expensive and forget about Buckhead. The airport still sucks, but in its defense, it is hard not to suck when you have that much air traffic coming through.

The aquarium is nice and the Botanical Gardens are great.

But the "southerness" is not there anymore.

I give it an OK rating! :)

[AndyA]

5. I lived there in the late eighties, so I'm sure it's changed a lot since then.

I thought it still had a lot of southern charm when I was there.

I lived near the Governor's Mansion, and really enjoyed all the tall trees and wooded areas. It was very quiet, yet just a few blocks away was one of the busiest parts of the city.

My friends who still live there said it changed a lot in the years leading up to the Olympics.

At any rate, I enjoyed the years I lived there.

[Stuckinthebush]

4. Will we move to City wars?

The great city-state of Atlanta in an epic struggle with its Southern nemesis the Savannah Collective? Of course, they'd also be in a perpetual battle with Augusta, Greenville, Chattanooga, Birmingham and Montgomery. Atlanta is surrounded by hostile city-states! And let's not forget the mountain folk up in North Georgia. They'll not put up with any of the water stealin, nosiree.

:)

Seriously, I can see some incredible bad blood between Atlanta and its neighbor cities if they start trying to remove water from their non-traditional water sources.

[philb]

6. Florida Appalachicola River and Oyster Industry in serious trouble due to water shortage

largely due to high water use by Georgia population areas such as Atlanta.
Reduced freshwater into Appalachicola Bay is causing high salinity, with resulting
damage to oyster beds including large amounts of the oysters dying.