Atlanta Water Crises Is ALL About Growth

The metro Atlanta water crises continues to get worse. I'm afraid that Georgia's political leaders are handling the situation even more poorly than I expected. Not surprisingly, Georgia politicians are either too stupid or too scared to admit that the problem IS ALL ABOUT POPULATION GROWTH. Instead, our leaders are blaming the water shortage on the Army Corps of Engineers and those poor little mussels in Apalachicola Bay.

In my frustration a few weeks ago, I sat down and hammered out letters to my county water director and two local newspapers. Much to my pleasant surprise I got a response from the director and both of my letters were published.

According to the water director of Cobb County, GA, a building moratorium would be challenging due to the strong personal property rights provided by the State of Georgia Constitution. In regards to my idea to deny re-zonings that result in higher density, he said that was "on the table" with the Cobb Board of Commissioners. However, a few days later, my Commission Chair, Sam Olens, was quoted in the press as saying, something to the effect, that denying re-zonings was not worth the lawsuits.

So anyway, the politicians of Georgia are addicted to growth -- for them it is like crack cocaine. As for the citizens of Georgia, every time we conserve a gallon of water all we are doing is helping rich developers get richer.

Here is the letter that was published in my small town newspaper, the Powder Springs Messenger on Nov. 1:

Dear Editor,

While I am glad to do my part in conserving water, I find it troubling that city and county governments are continuing to issue new building permits and continuing to rezone for higher density.

Various elected officials are quick to blame the Endangered Species Act and the Army Corps of Engineers for our current water woes. However, the truth is that our water problems are the result of poorly managed growth and poor resource planning. Droughts are a natural part of nature, but turning north Georgia into a “concrete jungle” is not natural.

Now, we the citizens are asked to sacrifice and compromise our quality of life while the relentless development continues. This is not fair. All of us citizens should demand an immediate building moratorium until the water crises has passed. Otherwise, the buckets in our showers and the bricks in our toilets are only helping to provide for more growth.

The Goose

Here is my letter published in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution on Oct. 25:

Dear Editor,

I see that Chairman Sam Olens has joined the song and dance of other politicians by blaming metro Atlanta’s water woes on the Army Corps of Engineers [Feds must help us to weather drought]. What he fails to mention is that even if the Corps reduced their discharges, it would only delay the inevitable.

If the chairman is serious about conserving water he should use his positions as Cobb County Commission chair and Atlanta Regional Commission chair to promote a metro-wide building moratorium and deny any rezoning that increases density. As long as the metro area continues to explode in growth, all our personal conservation measures will simply be offset. The chairman’s statement that the region’s population growth is not the cause of our current situation is ludicrous.

We citizens have seen enough finger pointing — now it’s time to see local leaders who have the courage to make difficult decisions.

The Goose