Southern Water Wars
For two decades, Alabama has been engaged in disputes with Georgia and Florida over a valuable natural resource, water. The degree of the discussions has not always been pleasant, due to the high stakes involved.
Two important river basins, the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint, will be affected by water allocation decisions. The challenge lies in balancing the water needs of metropolitan Atlanta and north Georgia with the downstream needs of Alabama and Florida. If these decisions were easy, they would have been made long ago and would not remain unresolved more than 15 years after the issues were raised.
The Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, which merge near Wetumpka to form the Alabama River, are hugely significant for the region. The Coosa, heavily impounded to form a string of lakes, including Lake Jordan, would face a tremendous impact if its flow is substantially reduced. The Tallapoosa, which feeds Lake Martin, a great economic and recreational asset, is also a leading source of drinking water for the region.
The Chattahoochee, which forms part of Alabama's border with Georgia, has a history of agricultural and transportation use that could be severely compromised if the flow is significantly cut. In addition, the river flows into the Flint and then into the Apalachicola in Florida, which feeds into Apalachicola Bay, an area critical to the seafood industry.
These are just a few of the many issues that face the Southern U.S., and the water that will help fuel economic growth and environmental progress for the nation.
June 14, 2006 7:26 AM | Category: Water