Time For The Hail Mary
November 8th, 2007Atlanta is running out of water. The entire southeastern United States is being crippled by a multi-year drought of epic proportions.
Metro Atlanta’s main water supply is the combination of Lake Lanier and Allatoona Lake, both of which were created by, and managed by, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – you know, the same geniuses responsible for keeping the water out of New Orleans. Just look at the fantastic job they did there.
There has been much controversy regarding the Corps of Engineers management of these lakes, especially Lake Lanier. The Corps are responsible for controlling the daily release of millions of gallons of water from Lanier to provide for endangered mussels and smaller communities downstream. These releases continue despite the lakes being at historic record lows.
Current estimates for how much water is left for Atlanta, should the drought persist, range from a minimum of about 100 days to a maximum of about 210 days, depending upon who is supplying that data.
The point of this post, however, is not to spread the news of the drought, nor the lawsuits and emergency congressional requests focusing on the Atlanta water supply. There are many other sources of information covering this topic in far greater detail than I care to- and remember, Google is your friend.
Rather, the point of this post is to focus on the absurdity of the situation and the ineptness of Georgia “leaders”. I assure you, I use that term very loosely.
After many decades of uncontrolled growth, complete and utter lack of any planned zoning, mismanagement of natural resources, and untethered corruption at every level of government from county to state, these incompetent officials have not only brought Atlanta to this present emergency, but also to the brink of disaster. And now it’s all coming back to bite their collective asses. Good.
Now that we’re in this mess, what plan of action will our fearless “leaders” take?
It’s a bit late to consider something like a desalination plant in Savannah and a 200 mile pipe leading to Lake Lanier – at least in the short term. That would take close to 10 years, and even our dumbass politicians here in Georgia have a pretty good idea that 150 days is somewhat less than 10 years.
It’s too late to restrict the growth, since it has already exceeded the capacity of our natural resources. Although, one county of the 13 or so in metro Atlanta has actually stated that they will not issue any new building permits until the water crises is over. I guess the other 12 counties don’t consider having no water a “problem”.
I’m afraid that in this dire emergency we need to turn to the Governor of our fine state. A man who I actually did vote for because, sadly, he was the best candidate available.
And what is Governor Sonny Purdue’s plan of action?
Well, um, he’s going to pray.
Wait, wait, wait… He’s not going to pray to the Magical Invisible Man in the sky all by himself. No, he’s organizing a prayer service next week and everyone will be invited. This prayer meeting of Georgia’s elite will run about $2,000,000 for security. Money well spent though since it will relieve out drought.
According to Heather Teilhet, the Governor’s spokeswoman, he began talking about wanting to host a service to pray for rain on his way back from Washington D.C. last week. He was in D.C. meeting with federal officials and the governors of Alabama and Florida to discuss the region’s water crisis.
“Georgia needs rain. The issue at the heart of our drought problems is a lack of rain,” Teilhet said. “And there is nothing the government can do to make that happen.”
Teilnet continues, “The governor recognizes that the request has got to be made to a higher power.”
Ummmmm…
OK.
But, for a moment, I ask the Christian community praying for rain to reflect upon what happened the last time your God used water to resolve an earthly problem.
Unless you have an ark in your backyard, you might want to reconsider this request.
Atlanta is an awesome city, and I can’t think of many places in the United States I’d rather live than Georgia. I just can’t help but wonder how much better it would be here if not for the ignorance of the elected officials.
4 Responses to “Time For The Hail Mary”
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November 8th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
dude…did you know you have colon cleansing ads on your blog?
November 8th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Blog About Nothing endorses clean colons.
…even during water shortages.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
lol…you crack me up
November 10th, 2007 at 2:50 am
Over a year ago, I saw the Oconee as nothing but a gully.
I checked the NOAA website, it was dry.
An Alabama Rancher, who sold his herd due the Drought, put it this way:
“There is a train wreck coming, and we are all watching it happen. Problem is, all of us are on the train.”
This drought will make the “Dust Bowl” stories of their day, slightly underwritten.