Alabama Water Crisis

Water is a very important resource we use and need. Clean and safe drinking water is scarce though. There are many places in the world that don’t even have clean water and then there are some countries like America that have plenty and yet take it for granted.

There has even been a “water war” going on in America.

It began in 1957 when Lake Lanier was completed. The primary purposes of this and other dams on the Chattahoochee River are flood control, power generation and navigation (Water War History). Water supply and recreation are additional benefits. But the same year a drought hit. Then there continued to be a drought in the years of 1981, 86, and 88. In 1989, the Corps of Engineers decided to reallocate 20 percent of the water normally reserved for power generation in Lake Lanier to drinking water so that there

would be an adequate water supply (Water War History). Georgia also applied for permission to build a series of regional reservoirs that would circle metro Atlanta and "drought-proof" North Georgia. The first of these is on the Alabama state line and will impound water from a second major watershed Georgia shares with Alabama, the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River basin.
In 1990 Alabama, later joined by Florida, filed a lawsuit to block the proposed reallocation of water from Lanier and raises concerns about water withdrawals from Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basin as well as Georgia's plans to build regional reservoirs (Water War History).

This is when the water war began.

So for decades Georgia, Alabama, and Florida have been battling over the allocation of water. The water basins include the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basins.

Georgia wants to have enough water to continue growing. The problem is that Atlanta is not in a water-rich area of the state, and it sprawls across the tops of multiple river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico (Tri-State Water War). Alabama is concerned with the fact that this may limit that its own use of water for power generation, municipal supply, fisheries, and other uses. Florida wants enough freshwater to reach the Apalachicola Bay to sustain its multi-million dollar shellfish industry, which is under severe ecological stress resulting from low river flows and saltwater intrusion (Tri-State Water

Wars).
As of now the SELC is keeping close tabs on this dispute to ensure the final outcome protects water quality and quantity in the two basins.
While the States fight for water rights, nearly 1 billion people don’t even have access to water (Water Scarcity & the Importance of Water). That is why we need to care to have water. We need to “Use Water Wisely”. There are many ways to conserve water. Some examples are:
Make sure the tap is turned off so they do not drip.
Promptly repair any leaks.
Use a low flow shower head.
Wash only full loads in your washing machine.
If you water your lawn, water every three to five days, rather than for a short period every day.
These are just a few of the ways you can conserve water. You can read more here: https://thewaterproject.org/water_conservation_tips