Imagine turning the faucet…and nothing coming out
by Emily R
I live right inside the Fulton County border. Just outside the entrance to my neighborhood, there’s a huge sign that says “WATERING BANNED”. It is illegal for us to turn on the hose or run through the sprinklers because the water supply is extremely low! Fulton County is not the only county in Georgia where watering is banned- 61 counties are included! The effects of the drought are enormous. Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier are Georgia’s primary water sources. Allatoona’s water depth has dropped 13 feet below normal! Lanier’s level is about 12 feet below normal!
Check out this link
The Endangered Species Act requires water to be released from Lake Lanier to flow downstream to Florida, in an attempt to save the Gulf Sturgeon from extinction. While it is important to save this species, there is a controversy over whether it is worth sending 37,400 gallons of water per second (via the Chattahoochee River), instead of saving it for the dry winter that lies ahead. Here is a website about the Gulf Sturgeon.
What do you think we should do?
October 7th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
What do I think we should do? Well, we can start by obeying the water restrictions. We could also take shorter showers (I don’t know about you, but I like to take long showers), and remembering to turn the water all the way off when we’re done at the sink. Also, its a good idea to only do FULL loads of laundry. Remember that article that Miss Baker showed us? Remember how much water that animals need? So, maybe we can cut down on the amount of meat that we consume daily. Go to http://www.city.ames.ia.us/waterweb/Water_Plant/water_conserv.htm for more ideas.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
One good way to save water that basically everybody can do is simply turn off the water while your brushing your teeth. I’ve gotten into a habit of doing this since i heard of it in about 3rd grade. Now I do it almost all the time and save water at the same time! There are so many other ways people can save water, if they just knew about them.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I think that the drought is just devastating right now. This afternoon we were driving down the road and went over the Chattahoochee and it was down really far. I understand why they are banning water completely outdoors, but what I don’t get is why they are sending so much water to Florida for one species. If it were for more, I would understand, but the thing is is it is just for one fish. With the government people guessing that by the end of February, Lake Altoona might be drained I think that we should take into consideration how much water will be left for us. I think what we should do is cut down on the amount of water we send to Florida, save the additional water for us if the drought gets worse, and keep the same watering ban.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
CAROLINE:
I GO WITH CAROLINE!! NUMERO UNO COMES WAY BEFORE AN IRRONIOUS SPECIES OF FISH. Okay, if this fish were edible, you get a bit of a let up, but what about salmon, and whiting, and perch. There’s enough fish to go around.
CODIE:
what are other, I guess, unobvious ways I can save water?
KATIE:
never thought about it, but you’re right. As a football player, I do more laundry than the law allows, and I always just put in my football stuff. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to do a little extra searching for similar, and just as dirty/wet clothes, huh?
Now, for me. I think what we’re doing now can just suffice. Importing water is out of the question. It isn’t worth the money, and from where? It can’t be from an ocean, because that’s salt water. I’m glad you just adressed the issue Emily. I sure as heck wasn’t thinking about it. Nice at how you threw out something really relevant, and mixed it with biology. Endangered species are relevant, don’t get me wromg, but where I get my 3 gallons of water a day concerns me a little bit more. We just are unlucky with the weather. Not much we can do.
Good Blog
October 8th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
its pretty scary that were running so low on water. i’ve never thought of water as something you need to conserve. its hard to obey the water restrictions sometimes because i always forget that there is a drought, and that we need to conserve water. i think we could leave the sink off while were brushing teeth instead of letting it run, and same with when washing our faces.
October 8th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
It’s really hard to decide what is more important, saving the fish, or getting water supplies where we need it. There are negative sides to both decisions. If you choose to stop sending water to the fish, it will go extinct and the ecosystem in that part of the country will be messed up. If you choose to keep sending water to the fish, the water level in the lake will continue to go down and the human population in Atlanta will suffer from it, not to mention all the plants that won’t get enough water. I think that we should try to cut down on the amount of water we consume right now, and see where that leaves our water supply the next time we have to drain some water.
October 8th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
The first thing we need to do is definitely obey the water restriction laws, and maybe come up with some punishments for if people don’t. We also should use paper plates more so we don’t have to use the dishwasher as much. I also think we should dedicate more scientists to building water filtration and cleansing devices so we can use it to be able to drink ocean water. We need to be careful not to leave the water running while we are brushing our teeth or washing our faces. I think it’s terrible how much the lakes have dropped, so I think we should avoid contact with the lake in any way (unless we are desperate for water). While I feel sorry for that species, we are REALLY going to need water, so I think we should stop sending as much. AWESOME post Emily
October 8th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I think 1 thing we could do is not wash cars so often…I know my cars are gross…but some people wash their cars so much and it uses alot of water. We could also listen to the restritions like Evelyn said. I also agree with Codie…we could turn the water off also.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
To be honest, i’ve never really thought about where the water came from when i turn a faucet on. I know that we’re going thru a drought right now though. To help this situation to conserve water, people can turn the water off when they brush their teeth or take shorter showers. People waste water off, me included. However, everyone can make a difference : ) good post emily!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Wow, what a tough question to answer. I think Katie brings up a great point. If we would just learn to conserve water better, we would not even have to worry about the drought. It all comes down to wanting to make a difference. It doesn’t even have to be huge. As Katie also mentioned, just shorten the length of your showers. That’s easy enough, right? As for what I think we should do, I think we should, and this is because of my selfish nature, keep the water to make sure we survive. That may sound awful but it is just how I am. I would love to see the animal saved but not at the expense of human beings in Georgia.
October 8th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Wow I’ve heard so much about this lately. My neighborhood has that sign outside of it as well. I agree with Evelyn, I feel bad for the species, but we need to stop sending so much, I would like to keep having water. My brother was telling me that one of his college professors told them that if we didn’t get some rain soon that they might have to cancel all the classes at UGA for a while so the toilets and sinks wouldn’t be used in the buildings. It’s a little scary to think we could run out of water.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
This a topic i know is bothering a bunch of other people. Before reading this i didnt realize how much water i use daily. It is a littl escary to think that we may be running out of water. I do agree with katies point about learning to pbey the new water restrictions. I have had a boat on lake Leiner for a couple fo years. Every year the water will drop alot. My friend has a house at the lake and they have to keep moving their dock out farther and farther to keep it in deep enough water. It is a very scary thing to think about. I do think it would help if we could cut down on things we do today that use so much water. I know that i use far to much water than i should and that is something that i will work on.
October 9th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Well, I have a lake house on Lanier, and ever since last summer the water has been slowly declining. The First time it went down, it was the Army Corps of Engineers mistake. They “acciedintly” released somewhere around 300 billion gallons of water. That brought the water in my cove down about 5 feet. Now since the gulf sturgeon plus the drought, the water in my cove has gone down 13 feet! My dock is sitting on mud!!!
Now we can’t even use our boat or anything. It is important to save a endangered species though, but do we really need to release all this water!?!
October 9th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
(To add to my first comment)In addition, Atlanta gets all its drinking water from these lakes. They are taking more water out than is going back in, and if they run dry, we will be in quite a pickle. Also I think a human is a bigger priority thana fish.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
wow i had no idea that the water crisis is getting that bad. I knew it was a problem, but not as bad as almost wiping a species out of extinction. I was watching the news one day and saw a story about how people are being caught watering their yards and were given some hefty fines. One guy had been caught four times and was facing some time in jail.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
This is a very hard thing to grasp. I have always thought that i would have water. It is hard to think that we might not get it everytime we want to. I hope that we can all make efferts to not use so much of it. I was thinking as i was putting my trash can in the house that i could use the rain water it caught to maybe do something with it. It could do alot, I mean i wouldnt drink it but i would use it somehow.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
The fact that watering is banned is really creepy. I heard on the radio that they might have to ration water if we don’t get enough rain.When we went to Lake Lanier two weeks ago it was really scary to see how far the water was down. Usually there is a beach where we go swimming and there are ropes around it so people won’t get hit by boats. The ropes were actually on the ground now( usually where the ropes are is about an inch over my head). I agree with Caroline in that I think that we should not send the water to Florida. I know it’s saving the fish, but I think we need it more. Awsome post Emily!!
October 10th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
The watering ban is not good for our environment. when I went to Lake Lanier a couple of weeks ago the water was as low as i have ever seen it. It was scary. I don’t think water needs to be released from Lake Lanier to flow downstream to Florida, in an attempt to save the Gulf Sturgeon from extinction. I think that is wasting our lake water that could kept the lake’s depth up. The Gulf Sturgeon is only one kind of fish. Who cares if it goes extint. I haven’t ever heard of the gulf surgeon to be honest with you.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Its just one fish. There are plenty more species of sturgeon in the world and people should not need to cut back on using water to save a fish.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Blake, Billy, and those with comments like theirs, let me ask you a question. You see this issue as being so black and white - either the gulf sturgeon goes or I go! Is it really that easy? Follow the link that Emily provided. Exemptions to this ban include car wash businesses, golf courses, and watering the lawns of certain homeowners. Should these be our top priority? Now, I’m not anti-golf or against washing my car, however, when faced with a water crisis, why would we continue to let water be used for those purposes instead of making sure we keep our ecosystems healthy?
Maybe you think since they are businesses they (and the economy) should come first. What worries me about this type of thinking is that it doesn’t take into consideration that we depend on our environment. If we see all environmental problems as so black and white (it’s either us or them), I don’t think we will make good decisions.
Check out these resources:
What are Ecosystem Services?
Article in Scientific American on newstands now
Millennium Assessment
October 10th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
The water ban has also effected me as well. In my neighborhood it is also illegal to water always. There are also many people who dont listen to that and disobey ALL THE TIME! Luckily my mother decided not to disobey, and we have the most green and “lush” grass in the whole neighborhood. Isn’t that funny the way that worked out
October 10th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Honestly i say forget the fish!! It is poiintless to protect a fish that is not very important. We are running out of water and protecting this fish is useless because it will eventually go extinct because we are going to run our lakes dry. The fish will go extinct when we use its habitat for water. It will just put us in a worse situation. I do feel bad for saying that though bacause it is not fair to the fish. But there are priorities. We have the biological dominance in this situation but we are giving what we need to the fish!! That is like being on a deserted island with an endangered species of kangaroos. There is a rescue boat passing by and you make them take the kangaroos. The boat is never seen again. NO! Something must be done. It honestly scares me that the government is so liberal that they would put a fish before thier own species, country, thenselves! If glaciers are suposedly melting at an alarming rate and causong out oceans to rise then the Sturgen will be fine. we can use the water from the gulf because the melted glacier water will replace it and there is plenty of ocean. It is all survival of the fittest.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
It really is hard to say because its good that he is saving water but at the same time he has to keep his health! He could just turn off the water when its not neccessary and take shorter showers. Everyone in Georgia has been affected by the water ban in some way because in my neighborhood people had a certain time to turn on sprinklers and water things. There are always negative things that come along with choices but i guess it all depends on which one you think is better.
October 11th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Before reading this article i really didn’t think about the watering ban that much, just a ban that was put up too save the government money or something. I didn’t really mind that some of our grass was getting brown, i mean come on people it’s just grass, and i knew some people were not listening, but i didn’t care. but now i know that it’s not good to be using so much water while the ban is up, i hope that the gulf sturgeon doesn’t go extinct, i iknow that it’s just a fish but everythings important to some degree! This article told me why the watering ban is there and lots of other stuff that i didn’t know before, thanks alot Emily, Good Blog!!
October 11th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
I looked at this issue the wrong way and I want to thank you Miss Baker for showing me what the ban would really do. Looking at the things that the water ban would be on, most are trivial things that we do not need for survival. However, this sturgeon needs the water to survive. I know I flip-flopped on this issue but after looking deeper into it, we could easily spare some water and just cut down on some non-essential things that waste water in order to help a species survive.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I disagree that saving conserving water to save another species is unneccessary. I think that even if it seems like a waste, the fact of the matter is that we are possibly taking our natural resources for granted. Most people don’t realize that our resources aren’t neccessarily renewable. The fact that we have to send water elsewhere points out that the water in that area is decreasing. If we have to conserve our resources because they are quickly depleting, then I believe it is an important lesson to learn. No specie is replaceble and once it’s gone, it can’t be brought back. I also think that we use too much water and we can live with much less than we think we need. We waste too much water running the dishwasher every night, even when its not full and doing a small load of laundry on full cycle. Sure, it seems like a lot to cut back, but we don’t need all the water we usually use. So cut back and save some species!
October 12th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I think it is so unfair that lawn businesses can use water when most businesses rip out plants every few weeks and don’t plant native plants. They are wasting water when they rip out the plant in a few weeks. Also by planting plants not native and not used to the cold dry winters we waste water on those plants. This doesn’t help either the Gulf Sturgeon or us, citizens of Georgia.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
I find it irritating we have to use our resources in our area when we have had droughts etc. for a fish out of our environment. But, at the same time if we had a situation like that we would want help also. It’s a tricky situation to be in, but in the end its good we’re helping them out, and i guess we could cut back on quite a few unecessary water uses.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
This is a really interesting topic to discuss and it goes over alot of information that can be contreversial expecially in societies problems today. I read most of your comments, on how we can conserve water, but also the other comments that dissagree with the fact that we should save the Sturgeon fish. I think that we should keep our focus on sending water down. A species is not a small group, concept, or small anything. It’s huge and crucial to an enviroment/ecosystem! If you wipe out one species, it will effect the rest of the ecosystem. Sturgeons reproduce between 8-12 years old, and live till they are 25. That is alot of reproduction, which means LOTS more fish being brought into the enviroment.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Watch “Georgia’s Water Crisis” On WSB-TV Channel 2, Sunday, October 14 @ 6:30 p.m
October 15th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
It’s really scary to think that by Febuary, the lake could be empty! I think that we should be doing what we can to save an endangered species, but 37,400 gallons of water per second is alot of water. Especially since we already have a major drought as it is, it could do more harm than good.
October 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Tonight at dinner my mom asked my dad about the watering ban and if it was true that the governer is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. My dad said that he is. I found this really interesting article on ajc.com that talks about how Perdue was thinking about suing (before he actually did it) them for the draining. Right now we are in a record breaking drought and Florida and Alabama (who we are sending billions of gallons of water to a day) don’t even have a watering ban in effect! That much water could be used for many things. It said that alone we are sending about 1.5 billion gallons to Florida a day. I know that the ecosystem needs to stay healthy and all, but the thing is is that people don’t follow the watering ban and therefore we are using water illegaly and the amount of water we have is decreasing quicker. I think right now they need to crack down on the watering ban and really keep people from watering. They need to make the people that are watering more aware of what is happening. Meanwhile I think that they need to keep the amount of water they are sending to Florida and Alabama at a small amount, until they go into a drought and really need it and until we get our watering situation under control. It just really makes me upset that people keep on watering when they are not supposed to. I know that ever since I heard this, I have tried to make the time I spend in the shower a lot less because to me it really saves a lot of water. I just wish that people would become more aware of how serious they need to take the watering ban.
Ajc.com Source:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2007/10/13/watergov1013b.html
October 17th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
P.S.-I was reading the comment that Miss Baker wrote about keeping our ecosystems healthy. Just one last question that I was unsure about. If we are sending water to Florida to keep their ecosystem healthy, we are retaining water from our environment. That means that we are killing our plants and other producers that eventually feed the primary, secondary, and so on up consumers. By not watering our plants, arnt we messing up our ecosystem?
October 17th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Hi Caroline,
You bring up some important points.
First I want to clarify the point of my comment. My comment was in response to students who were very opinionated about the watering ban but failed to include sufficient evidence in their comments to back up their opinions. Remember in science evidence is what matters. My point in making the comment was to help students understand that issues such as these must be examined scientifically and that we must avoid making rash decision based on very little evidence. If the water crisis gets worse, emotions will start to overtake reasoning and people will begin making very unsound decisions.
So, in other words, my point was to hopefully show that we need to truly understand the problem before we make judgments on situations. Now about your question regarding conserving the water for our own ecosystem. First, the urban areas surrounding Atlanta have very poor primary productivity at least relative to the areas in South Georgia and parts of Florida and Alabama. Check out this great article.
The conservation method we use in America is to protect certain areas at the expense of others. This method really become popular when Theodore Roosevelt was president. Biologically, there are a few reasons why this method is not the best, however, it is what is in place and I don’t foresee any changes to it in the future.
Some students are very confused by the desire to save what they think is a single fish by sending water downstream. However, research into this issue yields a better understanding of why this requirement is in place. First of all it isn’t solely in place to protect the environment. There are several businesses downstream which rely on the water to continue their business. Back to the fish. The fish, along with several other species included in the watering requirement, may environmentally act like canaries in a coal mine and help us determine the health of our more productive ecosystems.
Certainly, it is debatable just how much water should be realeased in order to meet the above goals. However, I think the bigger issue is this…
Morally (not scientifically because science cannot make moral decisions), we should put human health first, however, I greatly disagree that washing my car and watering my lawn (which offers no net primary productivity) is a good way to manage our water resources when they are limited. I despise the scare tactics used and unthinkingly accepted by people (“IT’S FISH OR US!”) because they are so blatantly unfair. If it comes down to it, there’s no moral human being on the planet who would choose a fish over a human life. But, it is not rational for us to solve problems using fear as a driving force.
We will never succeed if we rely solely on fear mongering and gossip.
Currently, it’s more reasonable to say, “It’s the environment (and certain businesses downstream) or my golf course.” Or, “It’s the environment (and certain businesses downstream) or washing my car.” Now, you can point out that the golf course and car washes are run by business (and thus, people) who rely on their businesses to financially survive. So the question becomes when do we take into account the economic value of preserving nature and say that there is a certain risk involved in operating a business that requires limited resources and therefore those people who run those business must acknowledge that risk and be prepared to deal with consequences.
I’m in agreement with your statement that we need to “crackdown on the watering ban.” People who are abusing our water should be held accountable and not just financially. The problem with relying on a financial system of punishment is you have some very wealthy people who will just say, “Well, I can afford the fine.” The only way you can hold people accountable and make them change is to socially outcast them. Make it clear to them that their peers look down on them for their disrespect to others in this crisis and that their peers will not tolerate such disrespect.
I hope I cleared up any confusion anyone had regarding my previous post. Caroline, thanks for providing everyone with the link to the article. Your desire to learn more about this situation combined with your dedication to doing your part to conserve water demonstrate both intelligence and compassion.
Miss Baker
October 18th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Miss Baker i agree with alot of stuff you are saying. I dont understand how it is the environment or us. When you water the golf course you are watering many living things. You are watering flowers, plants, and the deer drink the water from the streams and ponds. The fish have plenty of water. So by saying its the environment or the golf course i dont understand what you are saying. If i had to choose i would have a hard time giving up the golf course.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
I think that something really bad about this crisis is that people dont really “believe” it. some are soooo used to having everything right there for them that they dont realize that it could be just around the corner from being gone. and its not like something unnecesary is running low….Its WATER! without it we will be in serious danger. Ive heard that lake lanier, our main water supply, had about 80 days of water left. Thats really bad and even worse because people are ignoring the threat and using up water as if it was inlimited. Not only do people need water, animals need it too and if the lake runs out then all the fish die. Because of this we can all tkae steps to conserving water. Heres a few:
October 18th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
OK here is few ways to conserve water (i hit submit on the last one by mistake)
1. turn off faucet when using a sink between uses( brushing teeth)
2. Dont water lawn (ive seen people water their lawns and walk away for a while and leave the hose on) Just think “lawn or life”
3.TAke quicker showers and dont waste drinking water.
4. dont waste water on your car.
5. Tell other people do this too
October 18th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Miss Baker makes a good point. We waste so much water on things that are just not necessary. I mean, you can live without washing your car or having a perfect green lawn. People seem to think that we have an unlimited amount of water to use, when we really don’t. I think that the water crisis in Atlanta has really opened some people’s eyes to seeing that we don’t have an unlimited resource.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
After hearing these things its starting to make scince how intertwined things are in science. I do see that it is not us or the fish and I do think that if we can we can help we need to. It is still hard I guess to see why if we are in a crisis we dont do something that could help it. I just think that maybe we can take less water downstream or something, nothing drastic. I jusst think the little things we can do are good.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Also what i meant to say before and forgot was that i never thought that giving water to plants would give me more. I mean i kind of knew but i never put two and two together. One great thing about this class and blog is that it has helped my awareness and ability to see how my actions affect nature. Now i see that my actions affect nature which affects me which affects my actions. Gosh its a ton to take in but i think all in all we should just be more aware about what we are doing.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Miss Baker-
Thank you so much for clearing up my confusion. Your comment really helped. It makes a lot more sens