The water wars begin (Georgia vs. Upstate South Carolina)

[DemoTex]

Atlanta may need Upstate (South Carolina) water (excerpts)

Bill Graham, president of FOLKS, which stands for the Friends of Lake Keowee Society, fears the Savannah River basin could be siphoned off to quench metro Atlanta's growing thirst.

"The battle will escalate the demand for an inter-basin transfer from the Upstate lakes to supply Atlanta's unbridled growth," Graham said.

"It needs to be resolved so there is some formula that affords proper use of water in the basin. Otherwise, you have these chaotic events, and everybody is scrambling." (Snip ..)

Unlike South Carolina, where Greenville uses an inter-basin transfer to draw water from Keowee, inter-basin transfers are against the law in Georgia, Stallworth said.

But he said, "Laws can be changed, so it's of some concern."

(More at link)

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/NEWS01/710160358

Unbridled growth + no planning + environmental denial = heightened entropy and another disaster not unlike like Katrina

Entropy + disaster = economic opportunities for Bu$h cronies

Get it? That's why the Bu$h administration is silent on this looming calamity.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. Doesn't this concern

NC as well?

[leftchick]

2. yes

NC is now in stage four water restrictions and most larger cities only have about 100 days before drinking water runs out. I imagine NC will try siphoning from VA and so on. :(

[DemoTex]

3. NC Gov. Mike Easley (D) due to make statement on NC drought this week.

NC is certainly in a drought, too. The heavy population center of western NC, Asheville, is in the French Broad River basin (which drains into the Gulf via the Mississippi), so Georgia is not looking so lustily at NC's water reserves. I don't think any of NC gets its water from the Savannah River basin reservoirs (lakes Keowee, Jocassee and Hartwell) in SC directly. Keowee and Jocassee are right on the NC/SC state line, and almost all of the feed into these lakes comes from western Transylvania and Jackson counties in NC (Toxaway, Horsepasture, etc).

[raccoon]

4. Thanks for posting. There was something in the local paper not long ago about

NC and SC disagreeing about water from some river near the state border.

I thought that water was just going to be a problem for the Western states. Not so!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. Was it the Catawba River?

I think I read this, also.

[raccoon]

7. I think it was.

Catawba River

2006 controversy

As of 2006 the river is at the center of a controversy. Residents of Cabarrus County, North Carolina feel that they have the right to pump water from the river to help keep up with the demands of the county's increasing population. The Cabarrus plan calls for taking water from the Catawba and pumping the cleaned waste water into the Yadkin River, east of Cabarrus. Residents of the Catawba watershed oppose and have protested this plan. Residents of the watershed (which includes Charlotte, North Carolina) feel that the plan would ruin the river, which is vital to the economies of several towns, including Valdese, North Carolina, Connelly Springs, NC, and Hildebran NC. Valdese held a town hall meeting on the subject during which Catawba officials were heavily booed. They did not fare much better in another meeting held later in Charlotte. <1>
Proponents of the plan say that Cabarrus needs the water, while detractors say it will ruin the Catawba because it would not have enough water to withstand a severe drought, not uncommon in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Whatever the case may be, taking water from the Catawba River and pumping it into the Yadkin area may cause a shortage of water for the many residents that receive their water from the Catawba River.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catawba_River

[AspenRose]

6. "Whisky is for drinking. Water is for fighting over." --Mark Twain

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