 |
|
To fight drought, Georgians get creative
A roof, two tanks, and a pump are key tools for one Atlantan's do-it-yourself rain harvesting.
By Patrik Jonsson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the December 19, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 2
Atlanta - Even as the state's main reservoir, Lake Lanier, shows a cracked lake bottom, Steve Carr has water splashing out the top of his tanks.
His secret: A roof, two 550-gallon tanks, a pump, a couple of filters, and a little "head pressure" to prime the system.
Mr. Carr, a parts dealer who lives in a track-side industrial warehouse in the Grant Park neighborhood, built one of Atlanta's first personal "rain harvesting" systems.
"Hey, if I can build something like this, anyone can do it," he says.
In the midst of Georgia's most severe drought in 100 years, some state residents like Carr are taking responsibility to supply themselves with water. Many others are changing their behavior to conserve water, including how often they wash clothes, flush toilets, and use faucets, according to a Peach State Poll released Dec. 17. Four in 10 Georgians now say the drought is the most important problem facing the state today.
"People are realizing there are ways of retaining basic lifestyles, but you have to do so with some changes," says David Feldman, a water policy expert at the University of California, Irvine. "And you can't blame the consumer for [the crisis]. The problem is you've got a protracted drought which has exacerbated an existing supply problem that's been festering for decades."
But experts say that the growing number of residents catching water off roofs to use for drinking or irrigation is not merely about personal responsibility but also a sign of simmering distrust in government's ability to supply water in the future.
Critics say a 17-year drought planning project failed to address the region's essential needs. Meanwhile, a water war is ongoing between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, which all use the Chattahoochee River.
The state is working to counter the perception that the drought is out of control. On Monday, Gov. Sonny Purdue met with the governors of Alabama and Florida at a drought summit in Tallahassee, Fla. While there, Governor Perdue noted the Peach State's successful conservation measures and said Georgia won't ask the Army Corps of Engineers to further restrict flow from Lake Lanier into the Apalachicola Bay downstream.
But others say more conservation is needed. The city must cut water usage by 50 percent in the next 20 years to make up for its population growth; so far, even with water quickly running out, it has barely been able to reduce usage by 10 percent, experts say.
RSS feed
