Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
WATER FACTS
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Source water:
Water from rivers, lakes, streams, or aqui-
fers that has not been treated; is used to provide drink-
ing water via wells or public water supply
Groundwater:
Water found beneath the surface, such as
in aquifers; can be the source water for various supplies
Surface water:
Water found above ground, such as in
lakes, rivers, and streams; can be a source for various
water supplies
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New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Wyoming, Montana, South Carolina,
Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma, he adds.
Source Water
“We don't
run out
of water,” says Eric Evenson, the USGS's National
Water Census Coordinator. “Instead, the demand for it overstrips
the supply. We still have a lot of water in various areas, but when we
develop our population and our landscape, we don't always match
up our water demands well with our water availability.”
That's what's happened in Atlanta. The city's size and subsequent
demand for water have mushroomed while what has been its pri-
mary water resource, Lake Lanier, hasn't. In fact, just the opposite
has happened. In recent years, Lake Lanier, on the Chattahoochee
River in north Georgia, has been under a veritable siege from
drought, downstream demands from Alabama and Florida, and
what Hightower calls “the giant sucking sound that is Atlanta try-
ing to get all the water resources it can.” Alabama and Florida want
their water from the Chattahoochee, too, and the result is that the
courts have a seat at the dispute table these days. (We delve more
into water laws in Chapter 5.) The Chattahoochee forms a portion of
the border between Georgia and Alabama, and then fl ows into the
state of Florida, where it combines with the Flint River, subsequently
becoming the Apalachicola River, which fl ows to the Gulf of Mexico.
So there are three states and three groups—not including Atlanta—
that want their share of what is a limited supply of water.
