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Robert Glennon: Our water supply, down the drain

Posted by: Maven on August 23, 2009 at 11:00 am

From the Washington Post, this commentary by Robert Glennon:

“In the United States, we constantly fret about running out of oil. But we should be paying more attention to another limited natural resource: water. A water crisis is threatening many parts of the country — not just the arid West.

In 2008, metro Atlanta (home to nearly 5 million people) came within 90 days of seeing its principal water supply, Lake Lanier, dry up. Rainstorms eased the drought, but last month a federal judge ruled that Georgia may no longer use the lake as a municipal supply. The state is now scrambling to overturn that ruling; but Alabama and Florida will oppose Georgia’s efforts.

In Florida, excessive groundwater pumping has dried up scores of lakes. In South Carolina, a paper company recently furloughed hundreds of workers because low river flows prevented the company from discharging its wastewater. That state’s battle with North Carolina over the Catawba River has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Water has become so contentious nationwide that more than 30 states are fighting with their neighbors over water.

Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, is too shallow to float fully loaded freighters, dramatically increasing shipping costs. North of Boston, the Ipswich River has gone dry in five of the past eight years. In 2007, the hamlet of Orme, Tenn., ran out of water entirely, forcing it to truck in supplies from Alabama.

Droughts make matters worse, but the real problem isn’t shrinking water levels. It’s population growth. Since California’s last major drought ended in 1992, the state’s population has surged by a staggering 7 million people. Some 100,000 people move to the Atlanta area every year. Over the next four decades, the country will add 120 million people, the equivalent of one person every 11 seconds. …”

Read more of Robert’s commentary by clicking here.

August 23, 2009 · Filed Under Development & Population, National water news

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One Response to “Robert Glennon: Our water supply, down the drain”

  1. The week that was, 8/17-23/2009 | Chance of Rain on August 24th, 2009 5:40 am

    [...] by a staggering 7 million people. — Robert Glennon, author of Unquenchable, Washington Post (via Aquafornia) The drought has caused water shortages for 4.6 million people and 4.1 million head of [...]

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