Lake Lanier
An interesting situation brewing in the southern U.S. over water use by several competing interests.
No gauges are necessary at Lake Lanier to measure the ravages of the Southeast's drought.
Wooden fishing docks tower 10 feet over dried mud that used to be squishy lake bottom. Boat ramps begin at the parking lot and end in sand. New islands emerge from shallows.
"If the water drops another foot, I don't know that anyone will be able to get a boat in," said Mike Boyle, 64, a resident who has long trolled the lake for spotted and striped bass.
The waters of Lake Lanier, funneled through federal dams along the Chattahoochee River, sustain about 2.8 million people in the Atlanta metropolitan area, a nuclear power plant that lights up much of Alabama, and the marine life in Florida's Apalachicola River and Bay.
The story goes on to detail the sniping between the competing interests and states demanding that they deserve a larger share of what remains of the water flow. I've read other versions of this story about other rivers, streams and reservoirs across the states, and it is also becoming a major issue for the oilsands in northern Alberta, where the drive to expand oil production is running into the limits of the water supply.
Hell, even the Great Lakes don't appear to be immune from the problem.
Basically, the problem appears to be becoming more common, and the reason is generally uncontrolled growth without much mind to the sustainability limits of the local resources. In such cases, I thought it might be useful to remember just how bad things can get when such activities get out of hand.
Forty years ago, Muynak was a busy fishing port where the waters of the Aral Sea lapped up against the shoreline.
Today the waters have receded so much, that there is not a drop as far as the eye can see.
. . .
The human misery is huge. One victim has tuberculosis, which is rife and on the increase in the rest of the population. Cancer, lung disease and infant mortality are 30 times higher than they used to be because the drinking water is heavily polluted with salt, cotton fertilisers and pesticides.
Rim Abdulovich Giniyatullin of the International Agency for the Aral Sea Program hopes that the rest of the world can learn lessons from the Aral Sea tragedy.
"Don't allow the misuse of water," he warns.
"Be careful about how much you use, and stop before the source starts to shrink."
Here's the Aral Sea in 1976.
and in 1997
[LINK]
I wonder if we North Americans are smart enough to learn the lesson the Soviets taught the world.
