 |
 |
Posted Wednesday, October 31 at 1:21 PM
|
Environmentalists blame water mismanagement for drought woes
by The Associated Press
ATLANTA - Georgia environmentalists on Wednesday blamed chronic mismanagement of the Atlanta area's water supply for the water crisis that has pitted Georgia, Alabama and Florida against each other.
Instead of pointing fingers at endangered mussels downstream, officials should be looking at ways the metro-Atlanta region can better handle growth and encourage conservation, said members of the Georgia Water Coalition, a consortium of environmental groups.
"The water crisis in metro-Atlanta is largely due to mismanagement of existing resources," Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Sally Bethea said at a news conference outside the state Capitol on Wednesday.
Bethea said that instead of building additional reservoirs in North Georgia, as legislative leaders have suggested, the state should be spurred by the current drought to look at ways to use what it has more efficiently.
The coalition took the wraps off a report card which gave the Atlanta region failing grades when it comes to encouraging water conservation.
The group said the region relies to much on septic tanks, which are slower than sewer systems in returning waters to rivers. And the group said water use in the metro Atlanta area is about 70 gallons per person per day. That's nearly twice the 45.2 gallons per person that is considered to be a conservation level.
|
©Copyright 2007 AccessNorthGa.com / WDUN News/Talk 550.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. |
|
|
|
|
|
