6th Annual Georgia Environmental Conference
Water Supply Reservoirs in Georgia
Water…Water Everywhere
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Water covers 75
percent of the world's
surface
 97.5 percent of the
earth's water is salt
water
 Most of the remaining
2.5 percent is locked
away as groundwater
or in glaciers
 Only one-hundredth
of 1 percent of the
world's water is
readily available for
human use
Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/u8480e/u8480e0c.htm
How are we doing?
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It could be worse…
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2005 Georgia Water Use
Source: USGS (2009), Water Use in Georgia by County for 2005; and
Water-Use Trends, 1980–2005Scientific
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A simple problem…

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2005 Surface Water Use = 4,291 MGD
2005 Annual Surface Water Use = 1.566 trillion gallons
= 0.209 trillion cubic feet
State of Georgia = 59,425 square miles = 1.657 trillion
square feet
0.209 trillion cubic feet/1.657 trillion square feet = 0.126
ft. = 1.5 inches
Thus, precipitation needed to supply annual water
supply (assuming no loses) = 1.5 inches
Rainfall in 2007 was approximately 32 inches
Annual average precipitation is approx. 50 inches
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The problem and solution…
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We don’t have a water shortage problem.
We have a water storage problem!
Therefore, store more water…build more dams to do so.
"Anyone who can solve the problems of
water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes
- one for peace and one for science.“
-John F. Kennedy
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