Water use impacts on Georgia’s water resources and threats from increased water intensive energy production
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Author(s)
Barczak, Sara
Young, Shawn P.
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Carroll, G. Denise
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Abstract
Georgia faces serious challenges in
managing water resources and irreversible impacts to
aquatic ecology. Georgia’s fisheries and aquatic
resources are in peril due to habitat degradation caused
by water use for energy production, domestic purposes,
agriculture, and industry. Water resources and the quality
of aquatic life in Georgia’s rivers are expected to degrade
significantly with future water demands from a growing
population and potential climate change impacts,
including the potential for more severe and longer-lasting
droughts.
In 2007, Georgia experienced one of its worst
droughts in over a century, costing $1.3 billion in
economic damage and prompting crisis responses. A
vulnerable electricity system was also revealed. Power
plants in the region, such as TVA’s Browns Ferry nuclear
plant in Alabama along the Tennessee River, reduced
production due to high water temperatures and reduced
river flows. The National Conference of State Legislators
stated in 2008 that a higher risk of drought is a possible
consequence of climate change and could impact
Georgia’s economy. Future energy choices that do not
take droughts into consideration can affect Georgia’s
ability to cope in the future.
The magnitude of freshwater consumption to supply
the domestic, industrial, agricultural, and energy
demands of rapid human population growth in Georgia
has already resulted in reduced in-stream flows, interbasin
transfers, and depletion of groundwater aquifers. If
expansion of a water-intensive electricity system
continues and Georgia utilities pursue this course,
demands on Georgia’s already stressed aquatic
ecosystems are likely to increase. The expansion could
include the construction of two new nuclear power
reactors, in addition to the two existing reactors, at Plant
Vogtle on the Savannah River near Augusta, which is
operated by Southern Nuclear Company (SNC).
Consequently, flow and environmental regimes of
Georgia’s rivers have undergone and will likely continue
to experience dramatic changes causing and perpetuating
a major decline in freshwater and diadromous fish
populations (Warren et al. 2000; Duncan et al. 2003;
Marcy et al. 2005).
The value of Georgia’s water and aquatic resources
should be integrated into government and corporate
decision-making related to water use and energy
management. Also, cumulative river corridor impacts and
potential changes in precipitation as a result of climate
change and subsequent impacts on Georgia’s rivers need
to be evaluated and factored into policy decisions.
Sponsor
Sponsored by:
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute
The University of Georgia, Water Resources Faculty
Date
2009-04
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings