Group: Stop water leaks instead of adding reservoirs

Metro Atlanta could use up to one-third less water instead of spending millions of dollars on new reservoirs, according to a report released Wednesday by a national river advocacy group.

Washington-based American Rivers offers nine solutions to the region’s water crisis in its report titled “Hidden Reservoir: Why Water Efficiency is the Best Solution for the Southeast.” The recommendations include raising the price of water and replacing old plumbing fixtures with water-efficient brands.

“Atlanta and the entire Southeast are sitting on an enormous and forgotten water supply. It’s in our kitchens, our laundry rooms, our bathrooms,” American Rivers President Rebecca Wodder said Wednesday at a sparsely attended news conference at the state Capitol.

Metro Atlanta has made some progress on seven of the nine recommendations, according to the water district’s annual reports. More than 90 percent of the region’s water systems are reducing leaks and charging tiered rates for water to encourage conservation.

American Rivers, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group, opposes new dams and advocates tearing down unneeded ones. Wodder called recent congressional interest in building dams on the Flint River south of metro Atlanta “costly” and “destructive.”

According to engineering consultant Jordan, Jones & Goulding, which provided the numbers to the state Environmental Protection Division, to build a dam, it costs $4,000 for every 1,000 gallons of water stored.

The report compared that cost to the amount needed to save 1,000 gallons of water, which is between 46 cents and $250, according to national water conservation expert Amy Vickers.

Dam-building has widespread support among state and regional leaders. The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, a group of elected and appointed officials tasked with dividing the region’s water among 16 metro Atlanta counties, says four more reservoirs will be built in the “near future” in south Fulton County and Hall, Paulding and Walton counties.

Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed, and Gov. Sonny Perdue signed, a law meant to make it easier to build more reservoirs. But $40 million in promised state funding fell victim to the economic downturn.

Cities and counties can still compete for $30 million in low-interest loans from the state for water supply projects.

Marshall Guest, spokesman for House Speaker Glenn Richardson, the most ardent proponent of the legislation, said: “We need to continue the conservation measures that are already in place and expand reservoir capacity. It will take more than one approach to meet our state’s future water needs.”

Nap Caldwell, the state EPD’s senior policy adviser for water, said not enough research has been done in metro Atlanta or Georgia to determine how much water can be saved through conservation, and whether that’s enough to offset the need for new reservoirs.

“We’re doing the best assessments we can,” said Caldwell, but more funds are needed.

To view the report, go to www.americanrivers.org.