Saxby Chambliss: “I join my colleague, Senator Isakson from Georgia, in support of this legislation. Georgia is in a critical time in the…”

“I join my colleague, Senator Isakson from Georgia, in support of this legislation. Georgia is in a critical time in the history of our State. Atlanta, GA, is a great place to live, a great place to work, a great place to visit, but we are in a crisis. The water supply system for metropolitan Atlanta depends on two basins, Lake Altoona and Lake Lanier. Lake Altoona and Lake Lanier are fed by nature, by rainfall that every year, thus far in the history of those basins, has filled those basins since they were built decades ago. Unfortunately, during the month of August, we received very little moisture. But at the time we were receiving very little moisture, we had more 100-degree day temperatures than we have ever had in the history of Atlanta. A combination of natural forces has put us in this situation of crisis, but there is also an unnatural source that has helped produce this crisis, and the legislation that Senator Isakson has proposed, along with my cosponsorship, seeks to address this critical problem and seeks to help find a solution to this problem for the short term. Georgia's lakes are low and continue to decline as the Army Corps of Engineers releases water to protect a handful of sturgeons and mussels in the Appalachicola Bay in the State of Florida. Understandably, folks who have had mandatory water restrictions for months in our State, who are watching these lakes slowly decrease, are wondering where the common sense in Washington has gone.”