The Dead Zone

(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)

By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency

In my July blog for Water Efficiency’s sister publication, Distributed Energy, I appropriated the age old question of a tree falling in the woods by asking “if a green building stands empty, is it still “sustainable?” After reviewing some of today’s water headlines, I’m beginning to wonder if the same holds true for conveyance systems: If new pipes are bone dry, are they still a water delivery system? Or maybe the question should be: If you build it, will the water flow?
In January, I discussed a plan put forth by the California Department of Water Resources that attempts to alleviate increasing demand in the southern portion of the state with the construction of a canal to divert water from the Sacramento River. This week, it was announced that, in fact, officials at the agency are conducting feasibility studies on an “all tunnel” option that involves a 35-mile tunnel designed to route water under the Bay Delta and deliver it to customers in the south.
Those of you following the Delta-smelt decision in California and the resulting water shortages are aware of the contentious relationship between the northern and southern parts of the state when it comes to the management of local water resources. With pumping currently restricted (because of the endangered delta smelt), there is some question as to whether a large infrastructure project such as this underground tunnel (which some opponents allege could actually stretch as far as 50 miles) can be completed in a way that protects the delicate delta ecosystem and disperses the state’s water resources in an equitable manner. Additionally, there is some concern over costs (some estimates put the bill as high as $15 billion) and how the tunnel would be managed.
On the other side of the country, a worse case scenario is already taking shape. Some of you no doubt remember Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue’s prayer for rain. Although afterwards Atlanta did experience some much-needed precipitation, it looks like the governor’s water crisis is far from over: And Georgia is not alone. In fact, the southern states are “canaries in the coal mine”: The challenges they face and the solutions they employ are part of a first front in what could be rightly called a water war.
Last month, a judge ruled that Georgia has no more than a minor legal right to the water of Lake Lanier—making Georgia the loser in a long-running water rights dispute between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Lake Lanier supplies three million Atlanta residents, and the loss of that resource impacts the state’s rural areas in a way that mirrors the situation in California. In fact, it’s déjà vu, with environmentalists pitted against urban residents, while farmers worry that their own water allocations will dry up. And much like the ramifications felt after the delta-smelt court decision in California severely cut back the amount of water pumped out of the delta, in June of this year, a district court ruled that without a congressional deal in the next three years, withdrawals from Lake Lanier could be drastically cut.
Of course, the main difference in Georgia is that the water from Lake Lanier belongs to three states—making a resolution that much more difficult to come by. And much like California’s governor and his water task force, Governor Purdue is weighing all his options: larger legal case based on a 150-year-old supreme court decision that gives Georgia a larger share of the lake’s water, and perhaps controversial interbasin water transfers (shifting water from one river basin to another). But even if Georgia gains rights to all the water in the lake, it won’t be enough.
That’s because a continuing drought has dried up the region’s reservoirs, including Lake Lanier. Water levels at the lake (and at the Allatoona reservoir, which also supplies water to Atlanta) have shrunk so far down that all that’s left is dirty, bacteria-laden water just inches above the “dead zone”—the final layer of stored water that’s high in organic material (like decaying plants and animals) and low on oxygen. This substandard water supplying is forcing many communities to employ ever stronger water treatment methods, proving that even if you have the infrastructure in place, in the end it’s all about the level and quality of your water supply.
Go here for more on the California water tunnel.
Go here to read about the crisis in Georgia.