We have now made it through our driest month. Bear Creek Reservoir has gone up a little because of the small amount of rain we have received, and Athens residents have been doing a wonderful job conserving water. We were asked to reduce water use by 20%, but we have reached a reduction of 28%. Steve Dorsch, the Athens-Clarke County Water Conservation Coordinator, is very pleased with these results.
Water quality is not an issue yet as the reservoir is still at about 50% its capacity. What is important to realize now is that even if the reservoir is filled back up, the drought will not end. Dorsch says that because it has taken so long to get where we are (22 months or so), it will take at least as long if not longer to refill reservoirs and replenish water in other places such as soil.
A warm, dry winter is predicted, and if our winter is such, it could make spring and summer months quite interesting. Let's hope that the weather predictions are wrong and our conservation efforts will continue to grow.
There is a drought management report from October 25 posted on the ACC website under the Public Utilities section if anyone is interested. There are some pretty astounding comparison pictures.
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Well, I'm glad to see that people are finally taking the water conservation messages seriously. It only took like a million articles and a high fine to get my neighbor to quit "secretly" watering his lawn this summer.
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