Colleagues:
Some of you may have heard that the Eastside Utility District here
in the Chattanooga area has submitted a proposal to the Tennessee
Department of Environment (TDEC) and Conservation to allow an interbasin
transfer of Tennessee River water to the Conasauga River basin. The
proposed transfer would allow 5 million gallons of water per day to be
pumped from the Tennessee River, with no more than (as best as can be
calculated by the data presented in the application) about 1 million
gallons returning to the Tennessee River basin in the form of waste water.
The rest of this water would ultimately make it into the Conasauga River
basin in Georgia. Some of this water would be used in parts of Bradley
county, TN that are located within the Conasauga River basin. However, at
least 2.5 million gallons per day would be transfered to water untilities
in Whitfield and Walker, GA counties. Although 5 million gallons per day
may not seem like much water compared with the water stored in the
reservoirs of the Tennessee River, little, if any, information on the
cumulative effect of a withdrawl of this magnitude on the ability of the
River to provide adequate potable water for or assimilate wastes from
Chattanooga has been made public. In addition, potential impacts of this
proposed withdrawl on "in stream" needs of the River (e.g., support for
fish and other species living within the River) have not been openly
discussed. One local organization that has expressed great concern
regarding this potential transfer is the Tennessee River Gorge Trust.
Since the Tennessee River Gorge begins just downstream of the sewage
outflow from Chattanooga's sewage treatment plant, aquatic ecosystems of
the Gorge are potentially at greatest risk from reductions in the
assimilative capacity of the River for Chattanooga's wastes.
It is sad to think that there are farmers living in Bradley County,
TN or in North Georgia who are having trouble obtaining enough clean water
for their crops, or even for home use. However, with the high levels of
population growth in Whitfield and Walker counties during the 1990's (with
increases in population of up to 25% over the decade) it appears that
little thought was given as to the relationship between the natrual
resource base upon which this growth has been dependent (i.e., the amount
of water available within the local drainage basin) and the amount of
growth that was deemed acceptable. Now, as the reality of an extended
drought in the region has reduced the water supplies available to Whitfield
and Walker counties to the point that they are suffering from inadequate
supply, these counties are searching for ways to provide additional water
to support their industry, agricultural, and domestic needs. Although
Dalton Utilities has instituted conservation measures (they've actually
reduced use by nearly 20% over the past year), they are worried that they
will continue to face limited supplies unless this interbasin transfer
from the Tennessee River is allowed. The major fear expressed by the head
of the Dalton Chamber of Commerce is that these water limitations might
slow the growth the city and reagon have been experiencing.
In discussions with Mr. Don Cope, CEO of Dalton Utilities, he
detailed some of the measures they have undertaken to conserve water.
However, he was interested in potentially interacting with me and other UTC
Biological and Environmental Science faculty to come up with other actions
that might help them conserve even more water. I think that UTC faculty
might also be able to provide assistance with water conservation measures
to the water utility providing water to Bradley County residents.
I encourage you to think about the situation described above. Is
it right for a local Chattanooga utility to provide water to north Georgia
to support what has been essentially unustainable (from a water
availability perspective) growth over the past 10 years? What precedent
might approval of this application set with regard to the future of water
withdrawls from the Tennessee River and pumped to the state of Georgia?
Already, there is evidence that the Tennessee American Water Company is in
discussions with TDEC about the feasability of transfering water from the
Tennessee River to water utilities in the Atlanta region. Tallk about
unsustainable growth! If you, too, think that the Eastside Utility requrest
for an interbasin transfer of Tennessee River water should not be allowed,
please consider submitting a written comment to TDEC by July 22nd. Sorry
for the late notice on this one, but the whole process related to this
request has been speedy. TDEC intends to rule on the initial application
within two weeks of the July 22nd closing date! Please either compose your
own letter or use the model letter I've attached below and send (via e-mail
at this late date) your letter to the attention of :
Mr. Milton H. Hamilton, Jr.
Commissioner
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
21st Floor, L.&C. tower
401 Church Street
Nashville, TN 37243
e-mail address:
[log in to unmask]
If you want to read more about the legal aspects of this potential
interbasin water transfer please read the document produced by my
colleague, Dr. David Feldman of UTK's Energy, Environment and Resource
Center. The document may be downloaded in pdf format from the following
web page:
http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/divisions/wrrc/water_supply/Default.htm
Thank you for your support on this critical issue. If you have any
questions please drop me an e-mail.
Take care,
Henry Spratt
Dear Commissioner Hamilton:
Until a comprehensive and thorough study regarding the effects of
withdrawing water from the entire Tennessee River drainage has been
completed, I feel that consideration of any inter-basin transfers of water
should be suspended. Only a thorough study concerning the impact of water
withdrawal from the Tennessee River and all its tributaries can address the
many questions that must be answered before the State can even think about
removing significant amounts of water entirely from the Tennessee River system.
I understand the urgency of the requests of inter-basin water transfers now
before the Department of Environment and Conservation, but surely a little
time can be found to consider the larger issue of long term water
availability and purity, not to mention the needs of: aquatic life,
navigation, recreation, industry and hydro-electric generation. Issuing
permits now for micro-transfers based on a case by case policy without an
overall knowledge of just what the Tennessee River system can sustain is
short sighted and premature. I hope you will agree and suspend
consideration of any inter-basin transfers until such time as a thorough
study can be completed.
Let us do this right and not live to regret that we were in a hurry to give
away one of Tennessee's greatest assets.
Respectfully yours,
______________________________________________________________________________
Henry G. Spratt, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Ave.
Chattanooga, TN 37403
Ph: (423)755-4383
Fax: (423)785-2285
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://worf.ceca.utc.edu/wcb/schools/UTC/2653/hspratt/hspratt.html
|
