The AJC today reported the good news that Lake Lanier holds more water than originally believed.  But before you relax with a long shower, read beyond the headline.  The operations manager for the Army Corps of Engineers has clarified that instead of running out of water in 81 days, “we can can still supply enough water for us to live on for at least several months.”

Earlier in the week, an AJC guest columnist urged that Corps continue pumping water down the Chattahoochee River, arguing that the “mussels should not be sacrificied” because of poor planning by humans.  He makes worthwhile points about the importance of conservation and managing growth, but misses the larger point that the both humans and mussels are facing the same immediate danger — drought.  Lake Lanier is an artificial reservoir, constructed by the humans.  That reservoir is now being drained by the Corps of Engineers for the benefit of the mussels.  It is human planning that is saving the mussel, not endangering it.  And frankly, that makes little sense, if done to the detriment of the humans.

The potential loss of Grady Memorial Hospital has been rightly described as a ”disaster” for the metro Atlanta region.  But the loss of Grady pales in comparison to the emptying of Lake Lanier.  Without water, metro Atlanta faces a public health crisis of an unprecedented magnitude.

I wholly support Governor Perdue’s suit to stop the Corps from draining the lake. 

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