METRO ATLANTA IS GOING DRY: INVESTIGATING THE WATER SUPPLY NEEDS OF MAJOR CITIES WITHIN GEORGIA

During 2007, the drought in Georgia reached historic proportions. A majority of counties in Georgia have experienced an exceptional drought, predicted to occur only once every 100 years. Population watershed ratios can be used as an indication of an area's vulnerability to severe drought conditions, with small ratios indicating that a small population is being supplied within a watershed, while larger ratios indicate that a much larger water supply is necessary within that basin. Within Georgia, only 2 of the largest 7 cities have population watershed ratios above 200 – Atlanta and Athens (in Clarke County). The vulnerability of these cities is now more recognizable due to severe local water shortages. The media attention given this drought has resulted in numerous short-term solutions, yet long-term solutions are necessary to provide and maintain a reliable future water source for the region. Possible solutions include the following: the reclassification of Lakes Lanier and Allatoona, large water sources for the metro-Atlanta region created by the Corps of Engineers for flood control and hydroelectric usages, to drinking water reservoirs, resulting in greater protections imposed on the lakes; the reclassification of West Point Lake, downstream of metro Atlanta in Heard County, as the principal lake to maintain flow for points further downstream in the lower Chattahoochee River basin; the creation of systems of lakes and aqueducts linking Athens and Atlanta to the Tennessee and Savannah Rivers, augmenting their water supplies; mandatory, enforced summer outdoor watering restrictions to help encourage the public to realize that water conservation should be employed during both times of drought and non-drought; the creation of additional supply through drilling well fields, coupled with sustainable groundwater withdrawals based on geologic mapping and groundwater analysis – well fields in the Piedmont have great potential when based on sound geologic mapping and should be used as a timely and cost-effective solution to the arduous task of creating new reservoirs; the use of updated techniques in sewage treatment so that greater volumes of cleaner sewage discharge make it to Georgia's rivers; and more intensive watershed assessments across the state designed to protect drinking water supplies and natural habitat.