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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 10. 2009 — PAGE 5A
Opinions
Perdue’s metro task force eyes Northeast Georgia water
By Rep. Alan Powell
After a prolonged period of
severe drought, residents of the
Lake Hartwell area and all of
Northeast Georgia finally are
able to enjoy the beauty and
recreational benefits of a lake
at full pool level. For the half-
century or so since construc
tion of the Hartwell Dam, we
have lived through the ups and
downs of lake levels caused
sometimes by the whims of the
Army Corps of Engineers but
most often by natural fluctua
tions in rainfall amounts.
In recent weeks, a new threat
has emerged - not only to
Northeast Georgia and Lake
Hartwell but also downstream
to Lake Richard B. Russell,
Clarks Hill Lake and the lower
Savannah River basin - in the
form of inter-basin water trans
fers, courtesy of Gov. Perdue
and his hand-picked “task
force” representing corporate
and development interests
from metropolitan Atlanta.
Eight years ago, state Rep.
Tom McCall (R-Elberton)
and I sponsored a legislative
amendment making inter-basin
transfers illegal in Georgia,
with the intention of perma
nently outlawing the practice
of taking water from one area
of the state to another.
Two years ago, the General
Assembly passed and Gov.
Perdue signed into law a state
wide water plan that estab
lished 10 regional water coun
cils across the state for the
purpose of protecting our most
precious natural resource now
and in the future. The coun
cils are to report their find
ings to the state Environmental
Protection Division, which in
turn will formulate a water
plan for the entire state.
But like thieves in the night,
plotting to ignore the state law
stricdy prohibiting inter-basin
transfers and the diligent work
of the regional water councils,
the governor’s task force has
issued a recommendation for
siphoning off hundreds of mil
lions of gallons of water from
Lake Burton in Rabun County
and Lake Hartwell and sending
it to Gwinnett County and the
eastern side of the metro area.
The governor’s group also pro
poses transferring water from
aquifers in southwest Georgia
to metro Atlanta.
If the task force, which
was created not by legislative
statute but by the Governor’s
Office, is successful in chang
ing the law to allow inter-basin
transfers and in circumventing
the regional water council pro
cess, it could lead to perma
nently damaging the security
of our water resources from the
mountains of Rabun County
to the ports of Savannah and
would be a sad commentary
on the credibility of state gov
ernment in addressing such a
critical issue.
Many of you are well aware
that I have been fighting for
the last 20 years and warn
ing that this day could come,
when powerful special inter
ests in metro Adanta would
launch an effort to take water
out of the Savannah River
basin to satisfy the percep
tion that more water is needed
there to accommodate growth.
This is an unnatural, artificial
approach to solving metro
Adanta’s problem, which was
caused by poor planning and
a lack of conservation over the
past 30 years.
Rep. McCall and I, along
with other colleagues, knew
this would happen, which is
why we prepared for it with
the legislation banning such
transfers.
But with Gov. Perdue and
his powerful allies in the
metropolitan area apparently
prepared to go in a different
direction, we need to gear up
for another fight. Everyone in
Northeast Georgia should con
sider this a “call to arms.” This
is no longer just about beau
ty and recreation; the future
supply of drinking water and
economic development for
communities up and down the
Savannah River is at stake.
Take a good look at Lake
Hartwell in all its abundance
today and remember what it
looked like last year when
it was 23 feet lower. Better
yet, take a photograph. If the
governor and his friends have
their way, today’s scene could
become a thing of the past.
Rep. Alan Powell
(D-Hartwell) represents
the 29"' District (Franklin,
Hart and Madison coun
ties) in the Georgia House
of Representatives. Contact
him at 507 Coverdell Office
Building, Atlanta, GA 30334;
by phone at 404-656-0202 or
by e-mail at alanpowell23@
homiail.com. For more infor
mation, visit www.alanpowell.
net.
Winter has arrived
Like it or not, winter
weather has arrived right on
cue. December is the start of
meteorological winter, and
chilly temperatures arrived
with the passage of a cold
front last week.
This followed another
very wet rain system that
drenched our area as well
as most of Georgia with
two-to-four inches of rain,
bringing renewed flooding
on area creeks and rivers.
This latest soaking contin
ued the wet siege that began
in mid-September and shows
little sign of stopping.
Although not as wet as
September and October,
November still ended with
well above average rain
totals.
If this trend continues,
we will have more flooding
ahead.
So what does this winter
look like for our area? The
Weather
wise
By Mark Jenkins
warmer than average Pacific
(called “El Nino") is likely
to be the main factor in
our winter this year. Since
most of our storms origi
nate in the Pacific, it looks
as though our wetness will
continue.
This does not mean that
flooding is a certainty, as
sometimes the heaviest rain
falls across south Georgia
in an El Nino year. This
is considered a moderate
El Nino this year, and we
are not expecting a massive
barrage of killer storms to
slam California and move
quickly east as happened
in 1982-83 and 1997-98.
This winter is shaping up
to be stormier than nor
mal, but not necessarily
complete wildness as in
a strong El Nino. This
winter may be more sim
ilar to 1957-58, 1965-66,
1977-78, and 2002-03. The
strength of the El Nino's
in those years were very
similar to this year’s, and
particularly the rainfall pat
terns of the summer and
fall of this year match well
with 1977-78. That was a
winter that started slowly
but gained strength after
Christmas. In my “unoffi
cial” weather diary I kept
that year as a high school
senior, I recorded 11 days
with at least a trace of ice,
sleet or snow from Jan. 1
to March 10, none of which
were very heavy. We had a
temperature drop from 59
to 12 degrees in nine hours
one night (January 8-9).
Several blasts of arctic air
invaded that winter, drop
ping temperatures as low as
10 degrees, and many farm
ponds froze completely
over. Of course, there is no
guarantee that this winter
will behave the same way,
but the similarities are, well,
eerie.
Weather averages for
November 2009: Avg. low:
44. Avg. high: 64. Lowest
34. Highest: 75. Mean: 53.8
(+1.0). Total precip.: 5.43”
(+1.06”). Total rainfall
for 2009 to November 30:
55.55” (+7.91”).
Mark Jenkins is the coop
erative weather observer
for Madison County. He
provides a monthly weath
er column to The Madison
County Journal.
J. Mitcham
• • • continued from page 4A
“I reckon” — I suppose.
Some I didn’t know, but also
like, are “Red up,” meaning to
clean the house; “Barking at a
knot,” meaning you effort is
as useless as a dog barking at
a knot; and “Blinky,” between
sweet and sour.
New Oxford American
Dictionary recently
announced its word of the
year - “unfriend.” After some
one befriends you, you can
“unfriend” them, techno
logically speaking, on your
social networking site such as
Facebook.
Apparently the dictionary
expands to include new words,
with those adopted based on
projected longevity and use.
As some phased out —
although they aren’t really
gone, they just aren’t used
as often and aren’t as well
known — others become
introduced as “official” words.
Not surprisingly, many of the
new words are techno- and
social-site based.
Ha. “Intexticated” is “the
state of being distracted while
driving because of sending a
text message.”
I nearly got run over the
other day by someone who
was clearly “intexticated,” text
messaging instead of looking
up and ahead to the stop sign
where I — a sitting duck —
watched apprehensively in my
car’s rearview mirror.
Clearly I am no longer a
spring chicken.
Jana Adams Mitcham is fea
tures editor of The Jackson
Herald and a Madison County
resident.
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Notice To Adopt
2010 Budget
For the Madison County
Board of Commissioners
The Madison County Board of
Commissioners has submitted its proposed
2010 budget as of November 30, 2009.
Copies of the 2010 budget are available at
the County Clerk’s office located within the
Madison County Government Complex, 91
Albany Avenue, Danielsville, Georgia
30633.
A meeting will be held on December 17,
2009 at 6:30 p.m. to adopt the 2010
budget. The meeting will be held in the
Public Meeting Room, or if additional space
is needed, in the Courtroom. Both meeting
spaces are located within the Madison
County Government Complex, 91 Albany
Avenue, Danielsville, Georgia 30633.
J
It’s ludicrous to say
that continuing the
wars is ‘keeping us safe’
Dear Editor:
Regarding the comment “Says Obama shows ‘double
speak’ on war” in the Dec. 3 edition, I couldn't agree more
with Mr. Drago Tesanovich more.
As far as taking it to the bank, what bank, President
Obama? One of those that has failed and you have given
bailout monies to? There was a time for a just war against
Afghanistan, but that passed years ago under Duh-Bya’s
disastrous watch. We had Osama Bin Laden in our sights
but Georgie was more interested in taking Iraq out, at any
cost! While the Bush administration was busy fabricating
reasons to go into Iraq, Osama stole quietly away. We
spent $12 billion a month for this illegal and immoral
war in Iraq under Bush. Also, is everybody aware of the
fact that we sent pallets of money to Iraq, about $9 bil
lion worth supposedly for bargaining with the Iraqi’s that
remains totally unaccounted for?
I have been disappointed in Obama's attitude about
the wars. We need to bring our exhausted, medically and
mentally wounded troops home ASAP! There is no way
to win either war unless you're willing to take the whole
Middle East off the map and take millions of innocents
out in the process.
It's ludicrous to say that continuing the wars is “keep
ing us safe.” How many honestly believe that having to
bring our battle weary troops home to fight when we are
attacked again on our own soil (which will probably come
when we are through destroying ourselves sufficiently
enough from within) will enable us to protect and save
ourselves?
To those who believe you have to support the war to be
patriotic, how about truly supporting our troops ?
Keep them from back-to-back deployments to the
Middle East.
Help their families keep their homes out of foreclosure,
food in their stomachs and clothes on their backs.
Give them the medical and mental treatments they
need to recover from the horrors they have seen and been
involved in.
Our economy is in desperate need of a transfusion.
Let’s stop the blood and money flow and put that money
into creating millions of jobs here in America rebuilding
infrastructure, creating clean energy and safe foods for us
to grow and eat. Although Obama has disappointed me
in some ways, I will cut him some slack as he hasn’t had
much time to fix what it took eight years to destroy. At
least he will listen to citizens’ input which is something
the former administration would not even consider.
My fear now is that there is still enough ignorance out
there to decide already that the Democrats can’t do it so
put the Republicans back in. We need to stop voting for
the party and vote for the candidate. Many of us are dis
appointed in how both parties have been handling them
selves but the total degradation of our precious country in
the tenure of the previous deceitful administration should
be enough to keep us away from that fire for a long time.
Please stay involved in the process, walk the walk and
talk the talk. Vote, call and write the President, your
Senators and Congressmen instead of just giving it lip
service.
Sincerely,
Janie Massey
Danielsville
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X° DANIELSVILLE
« AMERICAN LEGION
Post 39
Meets last Thursday, 7 p.m.
JANUARY - OCTOBER
American Legion Building
Crawford W. Long Street
jg& BANKS COUNTY
Ill AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
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VETERANS OF
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Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Tuesdasy, 7:00 p.m.
Jason Mergele, Commander
Phone 706-367-7237 263
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m.-(706) 335-3151
Shade Storey, President
547
A UNITY LODGE
F&A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwayne Potts • 706-367-4449
Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260
JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m. *(706) 367-9349
Jimmy Mock, President
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BANKS COUNTY
AMERICAN LEGION
Georgia Real Estate Investors
Association, Inc. - Athens
Meets the third Thursday each month
6:30 pm at the UGA Conferen ce Center
1197 South Lumpkin Street,
Athens, GA 30601
Tom Hewlett - Chapter President
thewlettl@charter.net Pd. 12/09
Kmers post zi s
Meets each 2nd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 Pd,o2/io
BANKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
meets first Monday each month
7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial
Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441
North in Homer pd.-07/io
NORTH EAST GEORGIA
AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
Meets the 1st Thursday
each month at the
Commerce City
Public Library
1344 South Broad Street
www.ne4ga.org pd. 12
Ull JEFFERSON
WAMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 no
St. Catherine Laboure
Catholic Mission
Mass Schedule: Sat. 4:00 p.m.,
Sun. 11:00 a.m., Thurs. 12:10 p.m.
First Friday Adoration 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Website: www.stcatherinelabourega.org
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