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DEL.ICIO.USBarnes: ‘We knew this water crisis was coming’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While former Gov. Roy Barnes was at the Capitol to extoll the virtues of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards this week, he weighed in on the water crisis.
He told our colleague James Salzer that the crisis shouldn’t have been a surprise to anybody in state government who was paying attention.
“We knew it was coming. It’s not something like we got up in the morning and said, ‘Well, this is a new problem,’ ” Barnes said. “This is a problem that we’ve known has been coming for years and years and years.”
Barnes, who served from 1999 to 2003, said his plan was to create a North Georgia Water Planning District and build three new reservoirs.
“I’d already issued the bonds for the one out in west Georgia. We were going to build one north of Cherokee [County] and one to the east of [Lake] Lanier,” the former governor added.
“The other thing we were going to do was give grants to cities and counties to fix leaks. The greatest problem that you have is leaks,” he said.
Barnes said there is no reason Georgia can’t continue growing and still have enough water for public consumption.
“Los Angeles added one million people without increasing their water supply,” he said. “And if Los Angeles can do it, I’ll tell you Georgia can.”
Word from inside the state Capitol is that streamlining the permit process for reservoirs will be priority legislation when lawmakers gather in January.
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Comments
By Voldemort
October 19, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this
One can’t help but to wonder if the federal government is “dinging” Georgia for dawdling on resolving the interstate water negotiations.
Meanwhile, we kept adding people and jobs irrespective of not having the infrastructure and water resources to support it.
This reminds me of the run-up to the 1996 Olympics, when Atlanta, under a consent order from EPA not to pipe any more sewerage into the river, had to pump cisterns of sludge from beneath the newly-built athlethes dorms near Georgia Tech.
How can we graduate some of the finest engineering minds in the country, yet still have no clue how much infrastructure it takes to function?
By Jim J
October 19, 2007 1:26 PM | Link to this
Oh, well, too bad Georgia backs out-of-power Republicans nowadays. Great choice, huh? Good luck getting federal help, Newt-ville.
By Voldemort
October 19, 2007 2:14 PM | Link to this
Georgia not only backs out-of-power Republicans, but our Republicans in-power can’t seem to read the simple language of the 1973 Endangered Species Act [Section 10(a)(1)(B)] that allows the Secretary of the Interior “to permit taking otherwise prohibited under [the Act], if such taking is incidental to, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity.”
In other words, a law-suit against the Corps is a frivolous waste of taxpayer resources, unless the Corps is just too stubborn to make this special request on behalf of the citizens of our affected area.
Don’t blame the mussels, blame the fat!
By RJ
October 19, 2007 11:14 PM | Link to this
Georgia’s business community supported inept Perdue and like the rest of us they are now paying for it. Perdue’s anti Barnes obsession, i.e., dismantling Barnes transportation, education, and water management policy plans, among others, with no doable alternatives is now coming home to roost. There is no delight in this reminder because we are all suffering the consequences of inept leadership and an ethically challenged Governor. I hope the enduring pain is a wake up call that Georgia’s voting public that it needs to move beyond soundbites and race in electing its leaders.
By Get Real
October 20, 2007 2:33 PM | Link to this
Well, I just got back from the Governor’s press conference at Lake Lanier. I am sure some of you heard it on the radio. What a joke and I had voted for him . He put total blame on the Corps and the USFWS. Does he not know that his own state government is responsible for rubber stamping approval for large metro-Atlanta developments (big water users) which are judged to have regional resource impacts. We will never get a handle on this until Perdue focuses on being proactive instead of reactive. His demeanor towards the Feds is like a rabid dog and not condusive for cooperation. It’s time to put the brakes on rampant out of control development and implement immediate permanant and reasonable water conservation practices.
By Victor Jones
October 20, 2007 8:49 PM | Link to this
Great timing on the Go Fish program cousin Sonny!
By GodHatesTrash
October 20, 2007 8:59 PM | Link to this
Barnes was replaced by a money-grubbing moron. Sonny Perdoofus is stupid stumpbroke trash.
By David R
October 22, 2007 11:07 AM | Link to this
Instead of trying to sue the Corps of Engineers, and waisting money on that, why not use that money to help the dangerous situation that is occurring right now? Part of this is because of bad water management decisions, and trying to sue the Corps of engineers is nothing more than another bad decision.
By ageofpaper
October 22, 2007 12:04 PM | Link to this
Build build build, no water planning and just as bad no transportation plan except for us paying for building the roads and Sonny selling the roads. With the gridlock and the water problems Atlanta is going to be in for a rough ride the next 15 years. Why would anyone except a drunk or an idiot move their business to the Atlanta area? Kia plant has West Point Lake for water, which is full? If Sonny and his buddies can’t make a dime on the back side it’s a bad idea.
By Lisa
October 22, 2007 12:30 PM | Link to this
I totally agree. We continue to build apartments, subdivisions, businesses, condos, etc. yet we give no thought to the water issues and the growing school overcrowding. What is wrong with our state and local governments that they do not seem to understand this??
Answer: Money hungry politicians
By barnes
October 22, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
It’s a bunch of crap, L.A. brings in huge amounts of water from Northern California. We don’t have access to that kind of water, even if we wanted to spend the money to build an aqueduct system.
By G.A. Barnacle
October 23, 2007 10:55 AM | Link to this
Lack of Planning for water is just the most visible sign of lack of planning of this state administration. Nothing has been successfully accomplished since Sonny took office. The State blew $7 million on a new Health computer system that was then canceled and then another couple of million into computer software projects for other benefit related needs and then canceled that project. People in the trenches were talking about planning for water needs and managed growth almost a decade ago. However, if it doesn’t enrich the campaign contributors it never happens. Water is the first thing to reach the public arena — there are many more that are hidden down at capitol hill.