why not drain the man made beaches and use that water?
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Dry—And Getting Drier
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One battle looms large above the others, though: a water war that has entangled Georgia and two of its neighbors, Alabama and Florida, for the past 17 years. It centers on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system, of which Lake Lanier is a part. The same water that northern Georgia is thirsty for is also required downriver for power plants, various industries and endangered species including sturgeon and two types of mussels. As the drought has intensified, the interstate battle has as well. Perdue and north Georgia's water managers, have been calling for the Army Corps of Engineers to limit the outflow from Lake Lanier by 16 percent, thereby leaving more water for northern Georgia. They argue that the endangered species further south will still have sufficient water to survive-a claim environmental groups reject.
Naturally, the governors of Alabama and Florida have resisted. Though the White House appeared to broker an accord earlier this month, it fell apart last week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's opinion released today will allow the Army Corps of Engineers to tighten the downriver spigot (although by not as much as Perdue and others were seeking). The reduction in the river's flow has given northern Georgia perhaps a bit more leeway. "When drought is impacting our state, you can't keep continuing with business as usual," says Brantley, Perdue's press secretary. That's true not only for government agencies, but for individual consumers as well.
© 2007
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