November 13, 2007
Atlanta -- Governor Sonny Perdue, other state leaders, and ministers gathered at the state capitol to pray for rain, as many Georgia lakes and rivers are at their lowest levels ever recorded.
Short on rain, today Georgia's top officials said a prayer. "You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it." said Perdue.
"The River of God is full." At Byne Memorial Baptist Church, during their daily devotion they echoed the Governor's need for rain. "To call on God when you need anything is a good thing to do and it's a perfectly natural thing to do, and I'm glad we're doing it and I'm glad we can be part of it down here," said Byne's Director of Music, Steve Williams.
In fact, Williams sent Governor Perdue a letter of support. Here in south Georgia, the Flint River is nearly at it's base level, down 75 percent from where the river should normally flow.
"In terms of our rainfall, we're certainly way behind where we should be for a normal year. In southwest Georgia we're anywhere from 18 to 30 inches below our normal rainfall," says Mark Masters of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center.
Of course the Flint River remain at record low levels, in fact I managed to make it half way across the river in a suit and dress shoes, and the statistics are even worse. "There have only been 300, 350 days during that 106 year span where we've seen flows lower than what we have right now," said Masters.
What's worse is without rain, not just showers, but substantial rainfall, Georgia stands to enter 2008 drier than the state was in 2001 and come next spring, some Georgia farmers may find themselves without water for their crops.
While ground water levels remain abundant in south Georgia, the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center encourages everyone to conserve water.
Simple things like turning off the faucet when you wash your hands or brush your teeth can save gallons of water.
Here are more ways to conserve water--
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