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RACHEL KATZ
BOILING FROGS
Our drought reminds me of the adage about how a frog
dropped into boiling water jumps right out—but it stays until
cooked if dropped in cold water and the heat's slowly turned
up. Unlike tornados, earthquakes and hurricanes, droughts are
disasters in slow motion, giving us ample time to respond.
Yet—like our frog in slowly heated water—our commu
nity seems to be paralyzed, with outdoor irrigation allowed,
new private wells being drilled, and life continuing as normal
despite record low streamflows and below-average precipita
tion. So much of our community depends upon water—the
University, hospitals, poultry plants, hospitality, horticulture
and more, all providing jobs and services to our community
because they have access to this resource.
One would think that knowing how much water we're using,
and how much we have left, would be an important community
concern. We do know that Bear Creek Reservoir is full, yet how
many days' supply will there be once we start dipping into this
resource? Perhaps we need to take stock of our resources, and
start talking about how all our actions affect them.
The Middle Oconee River, seen last September at a critically low level.
Take irrigation wells. We know that ground and surface
water are interconnected, and that withdrawals from wells
affect streamflow. While Georgia's Environmental Protection
Division (EPD) only regulates wells that pump more than
100,000 gallons, per day (enough for 1,000 people), other
states affected by the drought are taking action. In North
Carolina, come July 1, all private wells are required to be per
mitted, inspected and sampled by county health departments.
This is because untreated water from wells, especially
in urban areas, may be v he source of risks to public health,
including pathogens, toxic chemicals, natural radiation
(radon), and other contaminants. That's not to mention the
fact that groundwater pumping (and withdrawals from local
streams by homeowners!) decreases the amount of water avail
able for other uses by diminishing flows.
Last year we almost ran out of water in Bear Creek
Reservoir, but were saved at the last minute by switching to
the Middle Oconee River, which still had a little flow in it.
Yet this year's drought is likely to be much worse because the
groundwater system that feeds our streams has not recovered
from last year's drought, and more people are pumping from
private wells for outdoor landscaping. This means that there
may not be river water to save us this time.
I don't mean to imply that outdoor landscaping is the prob
lem. Proper landscaping reduces energy demand, which means
that less water-consuming thermoelectric power production
is needed. Yet rain barrels and other stormwater collection
systems should be the backbone of any outdoor landscaping
system—not private wells.
How we prepare ourselves for the coming dry months of
August, September and October will define our community. Do
we wait, cross our fingers, and hope a tropical storm comes
to save us? Do we destroy our economy by closing our hospi
tals and poultry plants, canceling home football games, and
shuttering our bars? Or do we actually look at the numbers,
consider the consequences of our inaction, and encourage
innovative ways to manage our resources?
Todd Rasmussen
Todd Rasmussen is a professor of hydrology and water resources at UGA.
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