Water Limited
Restrictions Permanent

So how does it feel to be a thief? According to columnist Jay Bookman, we Americans are stealing from future taxpayers by borrowing money to cover this country's budget deficit. Our children will be forced to pay those loans for us, plus interest. "In effect, we're treating the future like our colony, stripping it of resources for our own benefit without concern for the impact." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 4/22)
Fortunately, here in Athens we have leaders who are not willing to strip the future of at least one valuable resource which we now need, and which future generations will need as well. In this case, that resource is water.
This spring, Athens-Clarke County and surrounding areas are already experiencing conditions of drought. Yet, even prior to this rainfall deficit, Athens area officials and others worked to set rules in place for residents to better conserve water.
In spring of 2003, Mayor Heidi Davison sent out letters to request volunteers for the Water Conservation Committee (WCC.) Some of the members were appointed and some volunteered. The WCC is represented by UGA, homebuilders, environmentalists, farmers and industry. Their mission involves the research and development of a water conservation program for this area, as well as a drought management plan.
On April 6, 2004, the WCC recommendations for a new watering schedule were approved by the mayor and commission. The Water Conservation Outdoor Landscape Watering Schedule limits outdoor watering on a permanent basis. Athens residents with odd-number addresses may water only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Those with even-number addresses may water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. No one gets to water on Friday. (Think of it as the day to give back to the fishes.)
ACC Commissioner Kathy Hoard (District 7) thinks that it's easier for residents if rules on watering don't change. "We want to educate ACC residents on the new regulations and their importance to our community," Hoard says. "I believe it will be easier for all of us to remember when to water if the same schedule is in place on a full-time basis. This recently passed ordinance is not only in conjunction with the State Environmental Protection Division, but it is more progressive than the state now requires. Our committee and the commission agree that this will greatly assist our efforts to ensure an adequate water supply for both the current and the future growth of our community."
ACC Water Conservation Coordinator Andrew Pearson, also agrees. "Water is a finite resource, although many of us have grown up thinking of it as infinite, or not even thinking about it much at all," Pearson says. "The WCC is looking ahead to the year 2050. In order for this area to have a level of water use that is sustainable for now and into the future, we must work toward a 20 percent reduction in our current water use. We can lower this area's demands on water by using some commonsense approaches."
According to Pearson, those common sense approaches include: encouraging the use of drip irrigation, providing incentives for xeriscaping (landscaping with drought tolerant plants) and educating people on the importance of the best times to water. The best times to water are early in the morning or late in the evening (when more water is absorbed into the soil and not lost to the air through evaporation). Pearson explained that this is the reason why spray irrigation is not allowed between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pearson serves as a technical advisor on the WCC.
Dr. Paul Thomas, of UGA's College of Horticulture, also serves as a WCC technical advisor. "We have been spoiled by having a nearly unlimited use of water in Athens until now," Thomas says. "With all the development that has happened and is planned for the next few years, unlimited water use is no longer possible. If we fall victim to the "hydro-illogical cycle - apathetic when it rains, concerned when there's drought - and don't conserve now, we may run out of potable water during the next drought. Of all the ordinances in Athens, this is the one that is most essential. Also, it is reasonable and might just postpone the spending of millions of our tax dollars for expanded water purification plants."
One objective of the WCC is to educate residents as much as possible and not take an overly punitive approach. First, there will be a written warning of notice about what the water violation is and what time it was noticed. If the violation continues, the fine is $75. The next fine is doubled at $150, and if the violations continue the water will be shut off. Hoard hopes that any money from fines goes into a special fund for future water conservation programs and education.
Clearly, the future supply of water for this area is a major concern for ACC leaders and the WCC. In a written statement, Mayor Davison noted, "Water conservation is an important issue regardless of whether we are getting rain or not. Most of us take for granted the fresh water that comes out of our taps or the ground, if on a well. Constantly shifting weather patterns, land disturbances, either man-made or by nature, and changing demographics resulting in increased population tell us that efforts to ensure a plentiful supply of clean water should be everyone's concern."
Mayor Davison and other leaders are taking steps to plan ahead for the growth of this area and the greater demands which will be made upon water sources. Water conservation is here to stay. It remains to be seen how the public will respond.

Liz Conroy

Liz Conroy is a local freelance writer.

Animal Control
Last Week's Scorecard

Athens-Clarke County Animal Control responded to 76 calls.
10 complaints of animal cruelty
3 bite cases
2 complaints of barking dogs
9 ordinance violations
35 animals were impounded
27 dogs
1 cat
1 baby bird
4 chickens
1 turkey
24 dogs were placed
5 adopted
8 reclaimed
11 turned over to other agencies

ACC Animal Control press release for the week of April 22 to April 28.

The Constitution
Why Not The Whole Thing?

"Law-abiding citizens of the United States have the individual right to own a firearm," Dick Cheney told the National Rifle Association's annual convention on April 17. Should the Democrats recapture the White House, Cheney warned, that right would be imperiled. "John Kerry's approach to the Second Amendment has been to regulate, regulate and then regulate some more."
NRA first vice president Sandra Froman echoed Cheney's campaign pitch to gun owners: "There is no greater threat to gun ownership than John Kerry as president."
If Kerry campaign officials thought their candidate's Vietnam resume or membership in the NRA - he enjoys hunting as much as any red-blooded American - would inoculate them on the gun issue, they were as badly deluded as the folks who thought Saddam had WMDs.
The polls are clear: the outcome of this year's presidential election hinges on the economy and the war in Iraq, not guns. And while most Americans believe that they enjoy the right to carry firearms, they also favor government regulation. Nevertheless, Kerry would be wise to break ranks with his party's liberal base by declaring his enthusiastic support for the Second Amendment.
A polarized electorate neatly divided between the two major parties has created a high-stakes political climate in which relatively low-stakes "values issues" - partial-birth abortion, flag burning, "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance - may determine the outcome of such weightier matters as whether the United States ought to wage preemptive war. Had Al Gore convinced 270 Floridians that he would have been more likely than Bush to allow them to keep their guns, after all, we wouldn't be facing a projected $6 trillion federal deficit.
Besides, abolishing handguns is a lost cause. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, roughly 70 million Americans own more than 200 million guns - with four to five million new weapons manufactured annually. Even if Congress authorizes police to break down every door in the country to confiscate them - a task our military can't carry out in occupied nations subject to martial law, like Afghanistan or Iraq, let alone in Wyoming and New Jersey - the gun genie is never going to get stuffed back into the bottle.
The best argument for coming out as a pro-gun nut relates to the need for an adjustment to the long-term strategy of the Democratic Party. For too long, both parties have treated the Constitution like a Chinese menu. Republicans whittle away at the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and smear opponents who exercise their First Amendment right to free speech. Democrats rail against the states' rights expressed by the Tenth Amendment and absurdly argue that the placement of a comma reflects the founders' original intent to limit gun ownership to members of 18th century militias. Aside from its fundamental intellectual dishonesty, our politicians' take-some-leave-others attitude deviates from most citizens' belief that every section of the Constitution holds equal weight.
Constitutional purism lies at the heart of libertarianism, one of the three main strains of American political thought - the big ideas that unite the overwhelming majority of American voters no matter where they live or how they vote. Two other primary impulses, liberal compassion and fiscal conservatism, also resonate with the electorate. (Bush sold himself as a "compassionate conservative" to co-opt the Democrats on caring; Clinton balanced the budget to steal away GOP prudence.) A party capable of synthesizing these three grounding impulses could form a virtually invincible majority for decades to come. And Democrats, forced into becoming the de facto party of fiscal conservatism, are currently in a better position than Republicans to adjust to such a majoritarian strategy.
Democrats, however, still need to make the libertarian case. That's where guns come in. Accepting and promising to defend the Constitution as a whole, including the Second Amendment, could jump-start the return of the American left from the fringe to the mainstream. Kerry's endorsement of gun rights would not only neutralize a key GOP values issue; it would serve as a cultural signifier that he doesn't view hunters and other gun aficionados with (as Democratic political consultant David Sweet put it) "an urban, sophisticated mentality that sneers at their way of life."

Ted Rall

Ted Rall is the author of Wake Up, You're Liberal!: How We Can Take America Back From the Right, coming next week from Soft Skull Press.