South’s Dry Spell Travels North

CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) — The drought that has plagued the Deep South for more than a year is creeping northward, and officials in multiple states are restricting outdoor burning in the face of water shortages and forest fire risks from falling leaves and tinder-dry conditions.

Extreme drought conditions, the second-worst possible, have now spread into Kentucky, and severe conditions have returned to West Virginia and southwest Virginia, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

“The last three months have sucked every bit of moisture we’ve had,” said Ben Webster, a fire staff assistant for the West Virginia Division of Forestry.

In eastern Kentucky, retailers are sending bottled water to drought-stricken Magoffin County after its primary water source, the Licking River, fell to low levels and residents were told to conserve tap water.  The county’s school system is serving meals on disposable plates with plastic utensils. Lunch trays have been temporarily shelved to save on dishwashing.

Kentucky also suffered through a severe drought a year ago, but “this is probably the worst that I’ve had to deal with,” said Joe Hunley, Magoffin County’s schools superintendent.

Tens of thousands of gallons of bottled water have been distributed through a fire department and a water company alone.  “We’re bringing water in daily and distributing it to those people who are in need,” said county health director Berti Salyer. “Of course, that’s just about everyone in Magoffin County right now.”

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Source: CNN

Georgia Drought Continues Despite Hurricanes

The banks of Lake Lanier in Buford, Ga., look about the same as last year: Closed boat ramps, parched soil and lonely islands peeking above the surface that should be covered by a dozen feet of water.

Epic drought forced officials across the Southeast about a year ago to impose severe water restrictions and warn that Atlanta, ground zero for the dry conditions, could be just months from running short of water.

While the drought has eased, its tendrils still extend across the region. All it takes as reminder of the drought’s grip is a look at the level of the lake, Atlanta’s main water supply, which is more than 17 feet below normal.

“I’ll tell you, we’re paying attention,” said Billy Calhoun, a former fishing guide who works along the shores of Lanier. “We’re not forgetting about the drought.”

The drought spread across the region last year and forced state and local officials to order sweeping water restrictions to save dwindling resources. Landscaping companies went under and some towns worried about running dry.

The response from many corners of the region was swift.

Georgia banned virtually all outdoor watering throughout the northern part of the state. The legal battle over federal water rights among Georgia, Florida and Alabama intensified, and legislators in Tennessee and Georgia sparred over rights to the Tennessee River.

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Source: Lawn & Landscape

US fish farms tap former coal mines for water

In the Appalachian mountains of the United States, growing numbers of fish farmers are raising trout, catfish, and even salmon throughout the valleys of the state of West Virginia. What they’d rather not tell you, however, is that the source of their water is deserted coal mines.

Worry not, seafood lovers. According to independent experts from within West Virginia and outside the state, the farmers’ claims of using ‘clean, clear water’ are true. The fish that are being raised in the mine waters are not only safe, but they may also be healthier than fish grown in conventional aquaculture operations.

‘The focus is less the mine water-we know it works, we know the fish are safe-and more of marketing,’ said Ken Semmens, a West Virginia University aquaculture researcher who is promoting the mine-water operations.

Many abandoned coal mines in Appalachia are polluted with toxic metals. But some have been spared, and the water sources that accumulate are considered clean enough to raise fish. Pipes carry the water directly to the aquaculture operations without any treatment.

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Source: The Environmental Expert

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Beyond Drought: Florida’s Not So Wet After All

What with all thehurricanes and tropical storms playing chicken with our long, skinny peninsula recently - making the normally wet Florida summer feel even soggier - it’s a bit difficult to remember that we were in the grip of a drought not all that long ago.

What a difference a few months make. Lake Okeechobee is filled practically to the brim. Standing water everywhere is breeding a plague of mosquitoes up and down the state. Rivers are running high and the creeks have risen.

All of which makes this seem like an especially untimely time to talk about water shortages. Still, come Sept. 25, 125 delegates from around the state will converge in Orlando for a two-day Water Congress, sponsored by the state-appointed Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida. Basically, it’s the commission’s job to look ahead, 10 years, 25 years and even 50 years into Florida’s future and try to anticipate trends, challenges and problems that lie ahead.

And never mind the fact that Florida’s water cup seems to be running over right now. What we’re learning is that it isn’t just periodic drought that threatens the state’s water security. It’s rampant population growth, poorly planned development, unsustainable pumping and irrigation practices and much more.

The St. Johns River Water Management District isn’t considering plans to pipe water south from the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers because things have been a little dry lately. The notion of tapping surface waters has arisen because poorly planned development is causing the aquifers to drop.

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Source: The Legder

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Tennessee: Drought causes multiple economic problems

The severe drought that has been experienced in Tennessee during the past several months has created a snowball effect on the economy and triggering a rise in power costs. (See related story in today’s edition.)

Tennessee Valley Authority receives its data from 317 rain gauges located throughout the states covered by the power supplier

The most recent data from TVA, dated Aug. 14, 2008, indicated the entire Valley has had 25.32 inches of rainfall since Jan 1, 2008. This figure is 75 percent of the normal amount.

The definition of a drought is “a period of drier-than-normal conditions that results in water-related problems.”

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the beginning of a drought is difficult to determine. Several weeks, months or even years may pass before anyone realizes a drought is occurring. Dry periods can last for 10 years or more.

During the 1930s, most of the United States was much drier than normal. In California, the drought extended from 1928 to 1937. In Missouri, the drought lasted from 1930 to 1941. That extended dry period produced the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s when dust storms destroyed crops and farms.

A period of below-normal rainfall does not necessarily cause drought conditions. Some rain returns to the air as water vapor when water evaporates from water surfaces and from moist soil.

Conservation is the key to having enough water to ensure everyone has enough of the lifesaving liquid to maintain the bare necessities.

Source: Sparta News

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Florida: Leaders Must Protect Resources

A recent letter by the St. Johns River Water Management District to “clarify some misinformation” shows us just how out of touch it really is.

The misinformation pertains to a discrepancy cited by a concerned citizen regarding the amount of water that the water management district wants to hand over to a California-based water bottling plant, Niagara.

The outrage expressed by citizens and local governments is not as much about the amount of water up for grabs as the fact that the district wants to allow an out-of-state company to bottle our groundwater at virtually no cost when we are experiencing water shortages.

While the district keeps preaching water conservation, it continues to issue consumptive use permits to golf courses, water bottling plants and sod farms.

At the same time, the district wants to issue permits to utilities in Central Florida to take water out of the St. Johns, because we have apparently squandered our once vast groundwater supplies.

The district recommended approval of the withdrawal permit for the Yankee Lake facility in Seminole County, despite the fact that the technical staff report indicates that the per-capita daily use of water in Seminole is expected to be the exact same in 2025 as it is today. I guess conservation really isn’t much of a priority or concern, after all.

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Source: The Florida Times-Union

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EPA Decision Protects 67,000 Acres of Mississippi Wetlands

(Washington, D.C. - Sept. 2, 2008) Today EPA is announcing its final decision under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to prohibit construction of the proposed Yazoo Pumps Project in the Mississippi Delta. EPA is taking this action following an extensive evaluation of the environmental impacts the project poses to tens of thousands of acres of wetlands and other water resources.

“Together with our state and federal partners we can improve flood protection and ensure environmental protection,” said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. “We’re helping to identify a better project that reduces flooding, protects the environment and saves taxpayer dollars.”

EPA continues to support the goal of providing improved flood protection for the residents of the Mississippi Delta while safeguarding the area’s valuable natural resources. The cost of the Yazoo Pumps Project would be more than $220 million for construction, with an annual operational cost of more than $2 million.

EPA is committed to working with other federal and state agencies, and the public, to identify an alternative project for providing improved flood protection.

The Yazoo Backwater Project is a federally funded U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal first authorized in 1941, designed to reduce flooding in an area in the state of Mississippi between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. The primary component is a 14,000 cubic feet per second pumping station that would pump rainwater out of the South Delta during high water events on the Mississippi River.

The Yazoo Backwater Area contains some of the richest wetland and aquatic resources in the nation, and serves as critical fish and wildlife habitat. EPA concluded that the proposed project would result in unacceptable damage to these valuable resources that are used for wildlife, economic, and recreational purposes.

Under the CWA, EPA can prohibit, restrict, or deny using waters of the United States as a disposal site for fill material when it determines it will have an unacceptable effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas. EPA has used this CWA authority only 11 times since the law was passed in 1972.

Source: EPA

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Florida on Water Conservation: This talk must lead to action

Near the end of the month, more than 100 representatives of governmental, industrial, agricultural and environmental organizations will descend on Orlando for the first annual statewide Water Congress. Marion County Commissioner Stan McClain, who as board chairman two years ago led our community’s public opposition to water transfers, will be among the delegates.

The gathering sprang from a January report to Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature by the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, a legislatively created group of movers and shakers charged with advising our elected leaders on how to keep our state livable as more and more people come to live here.

The chief recommendation outlined by the Century Commission in its January report was to conduct a water summit wherein expert participants would brainstorm for ideas to preserve our water supply for all types of uses for the next 50 years — and hopefully, and this is the tricky part, see those ideas translated into sound water policy.

As has been the case on water, Marion County has been well ahead of the curve. Almost 18 months ago, county officials released the Water Resource Assessment and Management Study, or WRAMS, an exhaustive three-year study outlining our community’s water needs for the next 50 years.

The key findings were as follows: our water usage, with current population trends, will at least double; groundwater would provide only half of what we would need for that growth; the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to make up a big part of the deficit — some 35 million gallons a day, or more than a third of the shortfall — was to enact “an aggressive water conservation program to include conservation rate structures, enforced watering schedules, landscape and irrigation system restrictions, and education.”

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Source: Ocala.com

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Durham, NC offers $100 rebates on water-saving toilets

Durham, N.C. — The city’s Department of Water Management has launched a program to provide $100 rebates to local residents who replace old toilets with models that conserve water.

The city will spend about $300,000 on the program, which officials said could save Durham 21 million gallons of water a year.

Only single-family homes are eligible to receive the rebates, which will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, officials said. Homeowners must purchase high-efficiency toilets bearing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense-label to obtain a rebate.

“Toilet flushing makes up about 30 to 40 percent of all water used in homes. Older, inefficient toilets can use between 3.5 and seven gallons per flush and are responsible for most of the water wasted in our homes,” said Vicki Westbrook, deputy director of the Department of Water Management. “Recent advancements have allowed toilets to use 20 percent less water than the current federal standard of 1.6 gallons per flush, while still providing equal or superior performance.”

Source: WRAL.com

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In GA: Water bills headed up?

The City of Swainsboro, along with municipalities state-wide, is being directed by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to file a water conservation plan as part of its permit approval process. This plan requires revisions in the City’s current fee structure for water usage. Also, the EPD is requiring the enactment and implementation of a “water conservation” rate. The new plan encourages conservation by establishing a new chart for water bills based on ascending levels of consumption.

“Obviously, this new plan is meant to reward people who conserve water and to penalize those who don’t,” commented Mayor Charles Schwabe. “It is certainly not our desire to change water rates, but this new ruling by EPD has required it, and we have no choice but to abide by their regulations. The actual increases will be very small and, in many cases, you will see no change at all. But the bottom line is that water conservation is becoming more and more of a critical issue everywhere in this country, and these changes are going to affect us all.”

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Source: My Swainsboro News

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