The Politics Of Drought

The southeastern United States is suffering from the worst drought in over a hundred years. Now the reservoir that holds Atlanta's water is down to a 90 day supply, and Georgia's governor has declared a state of emergency for parts of the state. He has also asked President Bush to declare a federal disaster so that laws governing endangered species can be suspended. It seems the Corps of Engineers refuses to stop allowing releases to Alabama and Florida which are required by law to protect two species of endangered mussels located in Florida's Apalachicola River. Florida and Alabama are opposed to the suspension of releases and have sent letters to President Bush asking him not to act on Georgia's request.

The Georgia governor is playing fast and loose with his characterization of the problem. In an interview on NPR's All Things Considered, Governor Perdue says he's looking for common sense solutions to this problem. He says he "does not believe the Endangered Species Act was enacted to put animals' needs above humans" and "certainly, America does not believe these mussels deserve more water than Atlanta's... babies". But it's not just the mussels that need that water, humans and wildlife in the states of Alabama and Florida depend on it.

Well, we all know from experience that drought can evoke some emotional responses--here in the west we've suffered from low precipitation throughout the area's history--and still we bellyache about rationing the water we use to grow plants that are not acclimated to our climate. The main problem for Atlanta is there were never any provisions made for securing adequate water supplies for the areas astronomical growth or for periodic drought. Negotiations about water in that basin have been ongoing for over twenty years, yet there still isn't any kind of agreement for sharing the water between Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Florida has spent a lot of money and time over the last 20 years wrestling with the hard questions of water supply and quality and it's their opinion that it's time Georgia did the same thing.

Much of the west, despite the knowledge that this is an arid area, does not require adequate supplies of water before growth is allowed. Counties in Colorado that are using groundwater to supply unfettered growth are heading towards catastrophe. This state's pro-business climate has allowed too much growth without addressing its sustainability or the long term impact of that growth.

As population grows and global warming causes more weather anomalies, there will be increased pressure to pit nature against humans. Politicians will try to make the choices sound easy, just as the Georgia governor misrepresented the struggle between Alabama, Florida and Georgia as a case of drinking water for babies versus saving some obscure aquatic creature. The choices aren't going to be easy to make though--otherwise they would have already been made.