Georgia Heritage Coalition - FLUSH THE FISH TANK, FIX THE SEWERS

Woody Highsmith

Woody Highsmith is a longtime activist who lives in Augusta and he's a volunteer contributor to the Georgia Heritage Coalition.

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FLUSH THE FISH TANK, FIX THE SEWERS – Commentary by Woody Highsmith

The state Environmental Protection Division, which regulates water withdrawals from rivers, lakes and underground aquifers, set July 31 as the target for city and county water systems to begin enforcing three-day-a-week schedules. So...Atlanta needs water and Georgia has to give it up?

"We're not talking about something that, if it is not implemented on Aug. 1, there are absolutely going to be dire consequences," Caldwell said. "What would be dire is if we haven't started to bend our water use habits over time to be much more conservative and much more in sync with how important these water resources are." EPD senior water policy adviser Nap Caldwell said.

Resources are strained on the coast, where there is a moratorium on new wells and in southwest Georgia, farmers can't get new irrigation permits. The limits are intended to help "metro Atlanta's water supply last through 2030" and conserve enough water in Georgia so the 400,000-square-foot Georgia Aquarium, scheduled to open in 2005 can use more than 5 million gallons of fresh and salt water to revive downtown Atlanta. Y'all smell something fishy?

Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus urged the state and city to do all they could to fund his $200 million gift of an aquarium. Marcus has continued to lobby heavily for "greater state participation." "The goal is creating jobs ... by getting people to sleep in Atlanta hotels and eat in Atlanta restaurants," Marcus said. "Right now people don't pack their kids in the car and drive to Atlanta for a weekend ... But some day in the future a family from Michigan will fly down to this city because there are so many attractions."

Marcus acknowledged that some aquariums, including Denver's, have not attracted visitors and have been financial disappointments. But by conserving and diverting water resources and Georgia State funds to the Atlanta facility, it will open debt free. The operating budget would be about $26 million a year. The Georgia Aquarium won Best Overall Deal of the Year in Atlanta Business Chronicle's 2001 Best in Atlanta Real Estate Awards. Some deal.

Marcus's "$200 million Gift" to Atlanta has caused water restrictions statewide, new well moratoriums and a ban on new irrigation permits for South Georgia farmers. Now with "greater state participation" in statewide water restrictions, almost everyone in Georgia will make sacrifices to revive downtown Atlanta.

Alabama said it would make no sacrifices for Atlanta, after another truce in Georgia's interstate water wars ended at midnight, this one over the water flowing from Lake Allatoona into Alabama. The dispute, headed for federal court could also wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harold Melton, executive counsel for Gov. Sonny Perdue, said he tried to assure Alabama officials that Georgia was willing to "manage water wisely." Melton said Georgia was open to compromise. "We offered all kinds of things to help get them there," he said. But Alabama officials didn't see it that way.

"It's an extremely disappointing night," said Alabama's chief negotiator, Onis "Trey" Glenn III. "Alabama had to make a choice not to sacrifice our water future just to satisfy Atlanta's water needs."

I believe most Georgians would rather flush the fish tank, fix Atlanta's sewers with Marcus's $200 million "Gift", dig new wells, water their crops and stop restrictions statewide rather than revive Atlanta's downtown.

Water resources are not the only source of conflict in the Georgia vs. Atlanta wars, there are numerous other ways in which Georgians are being asked to sacrifice for the greater good of Atlanta.

There are politicians from all over rural Georgia who take "contributions" from Atlanta Chamber types and----amazingly----they vote in the General Assembly to let Atlanta stick it to the Georgia voter. Is your legislator one of those sellouts? Georgians need to wake up and ask themselves, "Are my legislators representing ME?....or the Atlanta crowd?"

Woody Highsmith, a longtime heritage activist, lives in Augusta and he's a volunteer member of the Georgia Heritage Coalition.