Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The Sun Belt's elaborate hydraulic system of ponds, reservoirs, dams, canals, locks,
levees, and channelized streams supported the region's wide-ranging demographic and eco-
nomic constituencies. But without any comprehensive management vision, this system
would always be beholden to dramatic climatic, hydrologic, and political cycles. Environ-
mental conditions—too much or not enough rain—had clearly visited the ever-growing re-
gion before and during Georgia governor Herman Talmadge's time much as they would in
the future during and after Governor Sonny Perdue's.
As the Clarks Hill and Hartwell multiple-purpose projects demonstrated, not everyone
supported these large water supply and infrastructure schemes. By the time the Corps and
advocates for the valley's next and final project moved forward, the social, political, and
environmental landscape had shifted dramatically. The benefits, needs, and assumptions re-
garding what Sun Belt dams and reservoirs could deliver and for whom changed. The New
Deal big dam consensus was crumbling, and vestiges of New South capitalism persisted.
Innovative solutions for Sun Belt water problems emerged as the region's energy and water
plans encountered a new level of backlash.
