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

[ben]

Rummy,

I've been in Athens the last week and a half and seen the pictures on 
the news of Lanier.  Amazing.  How low is Hartwell now?

By the way, Athens is an unexpectedly fun little town.  Tons of little 
bars, all in walking distance from the "downtown" hotels.  It took me 
until late Monday evening to entirely shake my hangover from Saturday 
night/Sunday morning.

Ben



R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:
>     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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