Update: Athens, Georgia Running Low on Water

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Update: Athens, Georgia Running Low on Water

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Athens, GA (Sept 28, 2007) - Earlier this week, it was reported that the northeast Georgia city of Athens was running low on water, with only a 6-8 week supply remaining in the Bear Creek Reservoir. In the latest news, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division is expected to give permission to the Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority, which covers a four-county area including Athens-Clarke County, to "draw up to to 15 million gallons of water a day from the Middle Oconee River," as reported in the September 27 edition of the Athens-Banner Herald (ABH).

According to the ABH:

[q
url="http://onlineathens.com/stories/092707/news_20070927026.shtml"]The EPD is likely to grant the waiver because officials there were
impressed with conservation measures in the four counties, said Oconee
County Commission Chairman Melvin Davis, also the authority's chairman.
Oconee, Barrow and Jackson counties have cut water consumption by 15
percent, and Clarke County by 20 percent, Davis said.[/q]

So for now, the heavily drought impacted area should have enough water to last through the end of the calendar year. Additional Information on the status of the Middle Oconee River is available on the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service web site.