It doesn’t take smoke clogged air from a half-dozen wildfires to know that Georgia is in the midst of a drought, but it sure makes it more obvious. As metro Atlanta continues to be beset by smoke on a daily basis as the wind changes, Governor Nathan Deal and other top officials are considering what steps they may need to take as the weeks go on with little rain in sight.
Already this week Deal issued an executive order barring the use of fireworks in nearly every county from Atlanta north, but look for more direction to come from the State Capitol if we don’t see wetter weather soon.
The Cobb County Water Department has received warning from the state Environmental Protection Division that mandatory outdoor water use is likely imminent for residents of some 55 counties in the Chattahoochee River basin. That would be a (major) step up from the voluntary water conservation order that metro Atlanta is currently under.
Many Georgians will remember the ‘Drought of the Century’ that began around 2006. It took years before water levels returned to normal after that period, and though a series of damp years put the state back in good shape, a lack of rain this Summer and Fall see Lake Lanier once again 9 feet below normal levels.
Expect the current drought to add further pressure onto the already heated battle between Georgia and Florida which is currently being heard in federal court.
