[Rhodes22-list] Global warming for real. As real as it gets.

[Michael D. Weisner]

Rummy,

When you have rum, who needs water to drink, just for sailing.

"We're way beyond limiting outdoor water use." -- are they talking about 
sailing with the centerboard raised?

Mike
s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
Nissequogue River, NY


From: <R22RumRunner at aol.com> Tuesday, October 16, 2007 10:32 AM
>    Atlanta may need Upstate  water
> Some fear drought will drive Georgia to take water to  slake growing metro
> area's thirst
>
> Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:00 am
>
>
> By  Anna Simon
> CLEMSON BUREAU
> _asimon at greenvillenews.com_ (mailto:asimon at greenvillenews.com)
>
> CLEMSON -- An hour southwest of the clear blue waters of Lake Keowee, 
> which
> provides drinking water for many Upstate residents, Atlanta's main  water
> source -- Lake Lanier -- is drying up.
> A relative puddle surrounded by acres of dusty red clay, the lake that
> supplies water for more than 3 million people could be drained in four 
> months, The
> Associated Press reported. After weeks of watering bans and  warnings for
> residents to take shorter showers, some towns now are  threatening 
> unprecedented
> rationing.
> "We're way beyond limiting outdoor water use. We're talking about  indoor
> water use," said Jeff Knight, an environmental engineer in the  college 
> town of
> Athens, Ga., which is preparing last-ditch rationing rules  as its 
> reservoir
> runs dry.
> Here in the Upstate, lakes Keowee, Jocassee and Hartwell are low. 
> Utilities
> including Duke Energy and the city of Clemson have asked their  customers 
> to
> voluntarily conserve water, but residents haven't seen the  dire 
> restrictions
> that face their neighbors to the south.
>
>
>
> (http://gcirm.greenvilleonline.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/sc-greenville.greenvilleonline.com/news/article.htm/73042700/300x250_1/OasDefault/23579
> -USAT-API-300x250-News/300x250.gif/34373065363031633436373931643230) Bill
> Graham, president of FOLKS, which  stands for the Friends of Lake Keowee 
> Society,
> fears the Savannah River  basin could be siphoned off to quench metro
> Atlanta's growing thirst.
> "The battle will escalate the demand for an interbasin transfer from  the
> Upstate lakes to supply Atlanta's unbridled growth," Graham said.
> "It needs to be resolved so there is some formula that affords proper  use 
> of
> water in the basin. Otherwise, you have these chaotic events, and 
> everybody
> is scrambling."
> Graham and other Upstate residents who share his concern plan to be 
> present
> today when the Joint Savannah River Basin Committee meets at  Clemson
> University's Madren Center at 10 a.m.
> The meeting is open to the public.
> Committee members were appointed by the governors of the two states  that
> share the Savannah River basin -- South Carolina, where the  headwaters 
> begin in
> the Oconee County mountains, and Georgia, where the  water flows to the
> Atlantic Ocean.
> Concerns that link the varied users of the waterway include water  quality 
> in
> the Lowcountry; lake levels in the Upstate; salt water  intrusion in the
> Savannah Harbor and Hilton Head; and the impact of  drought on electric
> generation, said Hank Stallworth, chief of staff of  the state Department 
> of Natural
> Resources.
> The committee will hear presentations and discuss the drought and plans 
> that
> each state's committee is making, Stallworth said, and consider where  to 
> go
> from here.
> Stallworth doesn't share Graham's concern about a Georgia water grab,  at
> least not to the same degree.
> Unlike South Carolina, where Greenville uses an interbasin transfer to 
> draw
> water from Keowee, interbasin transfers are against the law in  Georgia,
> Stallworth said.
> But he said, "Laws can be changed, so it's of some concern."
> The drought is an immediate concern.
> The Midlands and the Upstate had the driest July-to-September stretch 
> since
> records were kept in 1948, and the year so far is the third-driest  ever, 
> said
> Hope Mizzell, state climatologist.
> October is typically dry in the Upstate with an average of 3.8 inches  of
> rain, according to the National Weather Service.
> The long-range forecast calls for below-normal precipitation this  winter,
> Mizzell said.
> All of South Carolina is in severe drought, with the exception of 
> Beaufort
> and Jasper counties, which are in moderate drought, according to  the 
> state
> climatologist's office.
> There has been no move yet to declare the state in extreme drought and 
> call
> for mandatory water conservation, but Mizzell said three of six  drought
> indicators show the Upstate already in extreme drought
> "We're getting to the point where we need people to really start paying
> attention now," Mizzell said. "People need to conserve water voluntarily 
> to avoid
> mandatory."
> The Associated Press  contrib
>
>
>
>
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