As we learn more about “life”, then I believe peoples’ consciousness is being and will be further informed, just as with Emancipation and equal civil liberties.

Nice try…BUT perhaps you need to go re-read the Declaration of Independence. Specifically: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

A “self-evident truth” is NOT a “moral value,” Harry. We disagree on the definition of what constitutes a Life, but you tell me how you can justify black men and women being required to subjugate themselves to the white majority as being in tune with “Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness.”

Go ahead, I dare you. Make the argument that blacks being required to sit at the back of the bus, or not eat in a restaurant, or not being allowed equal access to the public school system…I want you to make the statement that these things are subject to the whims of “personal moral values” and not the “self-evident truths.”

Folks have been injecting their own personal moral values into public policy since the beginning of this nation, and sometimes succeeded. I offer you exhibit A, the Civil War. I offer you exhibit B, the Civil Rights Movement.

Oh, okay. 10% of your post is the statement of the obvious, and the rest is some drivel about Mark Taylor.

But, thank goodness we’re never going to have to worry about gay marriages in THIS state, eh?

The point is, Buzz, that the GOP in this state, led by Sonny Perdue and folks like the Georgia Right to Life butt-kissers don’t really have much of a clue when it comes to future planning of our most basic elements of survival, whether it be water or any other type of infrastructure.

But, thank goodness we’re safe from gay marriage, eh Buzz? Thank goodness the time and resources of state government were invested in THAT endeavor, eh, Buzz?

Thank goodness we’re preventing unborn/non-existent humans from being aborted so that they can be born in Georgia…granted, they may not have a whole lot of water to drink, but, that’s part and parcel of the far right wing of the GOP: “Everyone has a duty to live and suffer under our failures to plan, by God!”

I said how the water problem can be fixed. Thankfully the Lt. Governor and the Speaker are proposing the same thing and not trying to score cheap political points like Mr. Kahn.

Buzz’s sucking-up to the Governor’s defense solves this water problem exactly how?

The EPD can’t be left out of the blame either.

Almost three years ago, I attended a meeting with the EPD to discuss our county’s water situation and potential solutions should a drought event like the one we are now experiencing ever occur. I posed the hypothetical scenario of the county building a reservoir with no state or federal funds, filling the reservoir over a period of years so as not to negatively impact minimum flow rates to our neighbors to our south, and asked if we could utilize the water in the reservior for our county’s needs. Their resounding answer was “not one drop”.

And therein lies but one reason why we haven’t accomplished one meaningful thing to prevent significant water shortages in the future.

BTW, if the northern counties used the same logic that Sonny is now using with FL and AL, we could be hoarding the water that originates in our hills for our own use without regard for Atlanta or anyone else to our south…but that wouldn’t be very neighborly would it?

Instead, we are preaching water conservation at every breath, even though we are in pretty good water shape, just so everyone else downstream might be able to survive.

Let’s just hope that the silver lining of this drought will be substantial changes to the way we think about water management in this state. That will be our only hope.

Per-no-do reminds me of the Charles Durning governor character in BLWIT, dancin’ his little side-step.

Impeach him. Now. To punish consumers for governmental mis-management is tantamount to a violation of oath.

He will only wish Tax Jesus ™ was on his ass, once this is over.

Per-no-do reminds me of the Charles Durning governor character in BLWIT, dancin’ his little side-step.

Impeach him. Now. To punish consumers for governmental mis-management is tantamount to a voilation of oath.

He will only wish Tax Jesus ™ was on his ass, once this is over.

If we had more nuclear power, it would be a lot more feasible. The estimated cost for desalinated water is about $1 per m^3, which is 1,000 L or 250 gallons. On a raw material basis, it is about 0.4 cents per gallon, or the average person (using 100 gallons a day) would spend $0.40 a day on water, or $12 a month. This does not include transportation and treatment costs which is what your monthly bill is.

If i remember correctly, a rule of thumb is that pumping water to a level 1 mile high or 1000 miles over flat terain will cost as much as desalination. So, ATL being 200 miles from the ocean and 1000 feet above sea level, would you would have to add a factor of 1000/5000 + 200/1000 = 40 percent to the cost, making it a total of about $17/month (12 + 5).

Yes, thats not a free raw material cost like ground water, but my average water bill is $15 per person (including sewer), so for double the cost of the nearly free water utility we currently have, we could have an unlimited supply of water from the ocean.