Atlanta may have to drink the dregs

[KamaAina]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_us/drought_dregs

ATLANTA - With drought tightening its grip on the Southeast, the Atlanta area's reservoirs are almost down to the dregs — the dirtier, more bacteria-laden water close to the bottom — and it's going to require more aggressive and more expensive purification....

The problem is that the water levels on Lakes Lanier and Allatoona, the main sources of water for metropolitan Atlanta's 5 million residents, have descended almost to the "dead zone," a layer low in oxygen and high in organic material — that is, dead and decaying plants and animals....

The state warns that Lake Lanier could have less than 80 days of water stored in its conservation pool, the main area from which communities typically draw their water. Below that level is the dead pool.

The Army Corps of Engineers predicts there is at least 120 days of water left, but that includes the water in the dead pool.

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

C'mon, M$M! Atlanta may be southern, but unlike You-Know-Where, it's wealthy! Plus, the areas most affected by this are the lily-white northern suburbs! Here's your chance to show you really do care after all! :sarcasm:

Looks like Sonny Perdue may have to keep the ol' prayer book handy... :shrug:

edit: Is CNN at least covering this, right in their freakin' backyard? I never, ever watch it, so I wouldn't know.

[ellie]

1. WTF?

What are the contingency plans for this drought? Is it every man for himself? Is prayer all they got? If so, those people are in trouble. Big trouble. And would it be bad form to point out the governor is a fucking worthless repuke? Because I just don't know anymore here on DU. Time to get out the pitchforks.

[angstlessk]

3. no, silly, sonny put out a contest for 5th, 6th and 7th graders to figure out

how to fix the water shortage...they are doin homework on the problem as I type!

[KamaAina]

5. Is Sonny Perdue Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Apparently the answer is a resounding No. :dunce:

I've got nothing against 5th-7th graders, but wouldn't, say, Georgia Tech be a better resource? :shrug:

[kestrel91316]

4. People can just buy their drinking water if there's none coming out the tap.

They can even buy their cooking water and bathing water and laundry water. From, say, Halliburton or some such.

I don't know why anyone would have a PROBLEM with this.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot: :sarcasm:

Wait, I have a BRILLIANT idea. It's really humid down in GA isn't it? We can just sell everybody with the money some big fancy electrically powered dehumidifiers to suck the water right out of the air. Then they can sell their excess water to the folks who don't have dehumidifiers or money to pay the bill to run one.

And if that won't work, here's another lower-tech way to get water:
http://www.ehow.com/how_12584_make-solar-still.html
And people won't even need to buy the plastic sheeting. They all should have plenty from all the terraterraterra scares of the last few years.

[marmar]

2. Sonny Boy might have to host a rain dance party next.....

n/t

[opihimoimoi]

6. Golf courses, washing cars, watering lawns, etc etc should been stopped months ago

Is this true, that this drought is almost 3 years old...?

If true...then the Gov should be fired.

[SoCalDem]

7. Yep.. all that ugly pollution and nasty stuff ends up in the sediment

at the bottom of reservoirs..

That's one reason often given for NOT undoing dams.. the nasty sludge will "escape" and end up running down the rivers..and possibly killing stuff along the way..