Report Could Give Florida Leverage In Water Wars

[MattCW]

It is seriously time to start looking at pumping highly treated wastewater back upstream, or even right back into the system. Why is the lifeblood of a huge city dependent on our notoriously unreliable weather?

[Lady's Man]

lol kinda funny coming from good ole Rick Scott!!! he's to protect the people again!

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by MattCW

It is seriously time to start looking at pumping highly treated wastewater back upstream, or even right back into the system. Why is the lifeblood of a huge city dependent on our notoriously unreliable weather?

Well usually this is unnecessary for various reasons...

First, Gwinnett is doing this. It's largest treatment facility discharges back into Lake Lanier. The county also has a very robust infrastructure in that they can pump sewage from other treatment plants to this new treatment plant. It offers alot of redundancy.

Beyond that...

They monitor every water user on the whole river system, their intake -and- their return. They base their water releases from the dams based on all information to achieve a certain flow down river.

The very fact that that treated water is returned to the river, even downstream allows them to cut the discharge from the dams. It is also why we only use 1% of the water in the watershed.

This is also why lawn watering is the first thing to be cut during droughts and we have regulations on most new developments having sewer. We want as much of the water as possible returning to the river in a way we can monitor it.

Lawn water can be evaporated. Septic tanks technically return to the river via groundwater, but it can't be counted and monitored accurately causing a political issue.

I once read somewhere that if buildings are on sewer a water system returns about 80% of the water it intakes. The rest is lost to evaporation or groundwater. This is also why "interbasin transfers" become a political issue (ie. we take the water from one river system, but a treatment plant puts it into a completely different river... huge issue with Dekalb's water system)

We also need to remember, part of this problem isn't environment or physical possibilities... This is largely/mostly a political problem.

We are a subtropical environment and one of the wettest areas of the country. During our droughts, we still have more water than many places in the central US and out west. The main problem here is we've set up a system where we guarantee huge river flows during droughts for various reasons (navigation, mussels, oysters, etc...) In other areas of the country, where water is more scarce, they do not have this.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Well usually this is unnecessary for various reasons...

First, Gwinnett is doing this. It's largest treatment facility discharges back into Lake Lanier. The county also has a very robust infrastructure in that they can pump sewage from other treatment plants to this new treatment plant. It offers alot of redundancy.

Beyond that...

They monitor every water user on the whole river system, their intake -and- their return. They base their water releases from the dams based on all information to achieve a certain flow down river.

The very fact that that treated water is returned to the river, even downstream allows them to cut the discharge from the dams. It is also why we only use 1% of the water in the watershed.

This is also why lawn watering is the first thing to be cut during droughts and we have regulations on most new developments having sewer. We want as much of the water as possible returning to the river in a way we can monitor it.

Lawn water can be evaporated. Septic tanks technically return to the river via groundwater, but it can't be counted and monitored accurately causing a political issue.

I once read somewhere that if buildings are on sewer a water system returns about 80% of the water it intakes. The rest is lost to evaporation or groundwater. This is also why "interbasin transfers" become a political issue (ie. we take the water from one river system, but a treatment plant puts it into a completely different river... huge issue with Dekalb's water system)

We also need to remember, part of this problem isn't environment or physical possibilities... This is largely/mostly a political problem.

We are a subtropical environment and one of the wettest areas of the country. During our droughts, we still have more water than many places in the central US and out west. The main problem here is we've set up a system where we guarantee huge river flows during droughts for various reasons (navigation, mussels, oysters, etc...) In other areas of the country, where water is more scarce, they do not have this.

CWKimbro, once again you amaze. To take the time to write this for the (relatively) few that will visit this site is greatly appreciated. You have just educated me more on this intrastate water war than anything I've read in years of reading up on it. Kudos!

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

why are you guys fighting over water...I thought Lake Lanier should be overflowing with all the rain that's been going on

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by DONNIEANDDONNA417

why are you guys fighting over water...I thought Lake Lanier should be overflowing with all the rain that's been going on

Even though there is a very wet year, Alabama and Florida have not cut their legal pursuits.

Florida just issued a new lawsuit over the matter armed with a new scientific study on dying mussels. Their governor just also ratcheted up the rhetoric in a big way.

These legal proceedings all have long-term implications, so the war is still on.


Short answer: It is their immaturity, not being a good neighbor, and pretty ignoring proper ecology. ( I can't sugarcoat these things any more )

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

CWKimbro, once again you amaze. To take the time to write this for the (relatively) few that will visit this site is greatly appreciated. You have just educated me more on this intrastate water war than anything I've read in years of reading up on it. Kudos!

I'm that big of a dork

This issue has always drawn a great deal of interest to me, largely because of how aggressive and unfair Alabama and Florida have been in the past on what is essentially people's drinking water.... human life.

I don't consider them to be good neighbors in the slightest, because of this one issue.

A really good place to start for information is the ARC: Tri-State Water Wars | atlantaregional.com

They kind of spit out a bunch of facts without putting them in context though. They also provide some good links.

This is a good source, not on the water wars, but how we changed development practices in the 70s to protect the river system. It explains much of the development between Lanier and Cobb County and south of town. Metropolitan River Protection Act | atlantaregional.com

This websites: Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District | Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District Provides good information on our implementation plans, but doesn't always provide context. It is more functional with what we are doing on waste water, water treatment, regulations, storm water, etc...

One last thing... Storm water: has been a huge change in policy in the last 10 years. It has less to do with the water war and more to do preventing flash floods caused by urbanization.

[AnsleyPark]

Too bad metro Atlanta vacationers cannot all be encouraged to abandon the Florida panhandle....

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Even though there is a very wet year, Alabama and Florida have not cut their legal pursuits.

Florida just issued a new lawsuit over the matter armed with a new scientific study on dying mussels. Their governor just also ratcheted up the rhetoric in a big way.

These legal proceedings all have long-term implications, so the war is still on.


Short answer: It is their immaturity, not being a good neighbor, and pretty ignoring proper ecology. ( I can't sugarcoat these things any more )

A tea-party governor is making his case in part on environmental issues. Mind = blown...