Meanwhile, solar panels seldom flood and work again as soon as
the sun comes out.
And how much more flooding would we get here with a good hurricane
sitting still for a while?
Epic floods forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes last
week in Calgary, Alberta, the tar-sands mining capital of Canada.
More than seven inches of rain fell on the city over the course of
60 hours.
Invest in nukes for
hot water in rivers damaging plants and animals
while there’s less water for agriculture and cities
and droughts and summer heat waves cause power shortages.
That’s Europe’s experience.
Or we could profit by their experience and get on with
reliable renewable solar and wind power.
France has shut down the equivalent of four nuclear power stations
as the heatwave eats into the country’s electricity generating
capacities. With temperatures in French rivers hitting record highs,
some power plants relying on river water to cool their reactors have
been forced to scale back production.
The recent rains have swollen our blackwater rivers, Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, and Little, under our longleaf pines and Spanish-moss-covered oaks, and filled up the tea-colored tannin waters in our frog-singing pocosin cypress swamps here in central South Georgia. But that was only a dent in our protracted drought that ranges from mild to extreme, with projections not much better….
There is no need to use our Floridan Aquifer water to build more
baseload power plants while Georgia lags behind Michigan,
Massachusetts, and even tiny New Jersey and Maryland in solar power.
WWALS calls on the PSC to ask Georgia Power to conserve our water
and to bring jobs to south Georgia through solar power and wind off
the Georgia coast.
Ask Georgia Power to conserve our water –Garry Gentry for WWALS
Georgia Power proposed closing of coal plants,
Administrative Session, GA Public Service Commission (GA PSC),
Doug Everrett (1: south Georgia), Tim Echols (2: east Georgia), Chairman Chuck Eaton (3: metro Atlanta), Stan Wise (5 north Georgia), Bubba McDonald (4: west Georgia),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
244 Washington Street SW, Atlanta, GA, 30334-9052, 18 June 2013.
After learning that Lowndes County (not Valdosta) was having a waste water spill,
I called the Utilities Department
and asked to speak with Director Mike Allen.
The person that answered the phone said that he was not available
and perhaps she could answer my question or put me through to his
voice mail.
I figured that perhaps I could get some of my questions answered so
I asked about the status of the current waste water spill. She said
that it had been repaired as of 5am today (April 26).
I then asked if it would be possible to get a copy of the Overflow
Emergency Response Program and she asked my name. When I said my
name (Gretchen Quarterman) she said that I would have to talk to
Paige Dukes
and she would transfer me.
After a long wait, she came back on the phone and said she would
transfer me and I was transferred to the voice mail of Paige Dukes.
I did not leave a message.
Apparently whoever is responsible for a major spill into Georgia waters
needs to immediately tell GA EPD DNR and the local health department
and post a sign, and
the sewage leak at GA 133 into the Withlacoochee River
qualifies as a major spill.
The City of Valdosta reported it as such, but it’s not clear it was their spill (update: it was Lowndes County’s spill).
Excerpts below from GA DNR’s guidelines.
-jsq
The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) didn’t know there was
a large water problem hereabouts, but now they do, and they want
to take a watershed-wide approach, from the headwaters to the Gulf of
Mexico, including both surface water and aquifer issues,
perhaps starting with redrawing FEMA’s flood maps,
and maybe even including once again funding the state water council.
Emergency Services Director Ashley Tye spoke about Local weather conditions
at the
26 Febuary 2013 Lowndes County Commission meeting.
He said the
Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road
was expected to crest at 20 feet within hours.
He didn’t expect Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant to flood.
He said most of the rain fell to the west of Valdosta, so
the Little River actually absorbed more water than the Withlacoochee this time.
Only Shiloh Road and a few other roads were closed.
The boat ramps at Langdale Park were closed in conjunction with Parks and Rec.
A few schools were closed, but all expected to reopen the next day.
Newsflash! “no new information” and “questions were resolved” about
the proposed abandonment of Old State Road at Hotchkiss Landing
on the Alapaha River, according to the Commission.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.
Dr. Bill Grow talked for fifteen minutes about
South Health District,
and managed not to ask the county for money, although the Health Dept.
clearly could use some.
Ashley Tye reported on
local weather conditions
and the county’s Code Red
emergency warning system, in which lack of Internet access by
some county residents came up.
Here’s
the agenda, with links to the videos and some notes,
followed by a video playlist.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
The county’s website,
down earlier today,
is back up, so we can see there is a Work Session this morning, with voting
at the Regular Session tomorrow evening at 5:30 PM.
The proposed abandonment of Old State Road at Hotchkiss Landing
on the Alapaha River,
tabled two weeks ago,
is on the agenda, although
the Georgia Supreme Court makes me wonder why.
One of the two appointments is to the
South Regional Joint Development Authority
which Andrea Schruijer mentioned at the most recent VLCIA board meeting.
Another is to the
Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council.
I’m guessing one person to each agency; the agenda doesn’t say
how many nor who the candidates are.
Here’s
the agenda. -jsq
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Is the Lowndes County Commission a “Qualified Local Government”?
Georgia state law says perennial river corridors
shall be protected,
all of the major rivers in Lowndes County
(Alapaha, Withlacoochee, Little)
qualify as perennial,
and
GA EPD rules say
to be a “Qualified Local Government” a comprehensive plan including
River Corridor Protection Plans with protection for a natural vegetative
buffer area bordering each protected river is required.
Epic floods forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes last week in Calgary, Alberta, the tar-sands mining capital of Canada. More than seven inches of rain fell on the city over the course of 60 hours.
