I certainly hope Alcoa does not go along with Maryville's plan to change the required cfs for the City of Alcoa. It seems to me Alcoa is planning for the future and Maryville has not. Let Alcoa sell water to Maryville and not give up their current water level rights.

I think with our water supply, if you are questioning whether or not there is problem, there is a problem. This late in the year, I would rather have dead plants than a dead water faucet. I don't want to shut down anyone's business, but I think all elective watering should cease until the drought ends. Maybe the local press could also do some features on day to day ways of conserving.

There is a system of rivers underneath the Brown Smear, over the Appalachias, in the picture below; that depend on the tributaries from mountainous regions for their water. These tributaries are drying up. It is at a critical state. The 'rain cycle' has been damaged--maybe even beyond repair. Development with Mother Nature in mind is not just a good idea anymore, it is a neccesity. The Coal Fire power plants, must seek cleaner fuels. The massive number of Airports spewing filth in the air, must be moved out in favor of Passenger Rail Service.

Great graphic presentation of the problem BeyondLeft, thanks.

See all that nice blue FRESH water in the picture called the Great Lakes? Well, after fighting the state of MI and Internation mining companies for 3 years we left MI for TN. Why fight the state and mining? There's GOLD in Upper MI and come hell or high (even low) water they are going get it out of the ground!!

The Great Lakes is 90% of this nation's fresh water supply and 23% of the world's fresh water...with gold mining comes that wonderful cyanide leaching process, acid rain, and the same polluted water that you find in the western states. Lobbyists have managed to take a 58 page metallic mineral regulation down to 8 pages.

If ever there was a real concern for fresh water in the future - it lies with the Great Lakes as much as those rivers and streams in the Appalachias.

Our water situation has made me realize how clueless I am with regards to what comes out of my faucet...The story about this being a regulatory problem makes no sense to me...and I don't understand how the new pipeline fixed the situation so that restrictions were lifted. Maryville city leaders make a lot of good decisions for our city, and in the interest of being positive (in my life and on this blog) I'm assuming this is a good decision that I'm just unable to wrap my head around. Still, my inclination is...to trust but verify (sorry for the R.R. expression...but it is a good one)

If anyone has some resources about water (in the eastern US) that would help clue me in, will you please post them?

The story about this being a regulatory problem makes no sense to me...

The City of Maryville is claiming they should not have to maintain such a high water level (37 cfs or greater) for their intake.
Maryville takes water out of Little River above where Alcoa takes water out of Little River.
Maryville is saying the "regulation" of 37 cfs or greater is based on the City of Alcoa needing and using a higher level of water than they can and do use.
And of course it makes no sense. Maryville is hurting for water. Maryville has no plan to get more water. Maryville is making it someone elses problem. e.g. the City of Alcoa and the regulations.

and I don't understand how the new pipeline fixed the situation so that restrictions were lifted.

The pipeline added a lot more water to the City of Alcoa's intake.
The pipeline raised the level of water above Alcoa's intake.
More water, no restrictions.

Theoretically, the pipeline does not affect water restrictions for Maryville except that Alcoa may sell them some of the extra capacity due to the pipeline.

What is the condition of the Little River past the intake points? Since we moved here from the parched southwest I really thought the intake levels were geared for the requirements of those living downstream- like they do just about everywhere else.

Meanwhile, there is no requirement that developers "out in the county" where there is no public water system demonstrate that there is adequate water available for the use of the people who build and buy. This is especially an issue for mountain developments that depend on more and more wells being drilled. So people who live here already and have wells just sit there while many more wells are punched into the same aquifer. Adequate water is not required for developments to be permitted. We should have a water resources audit and plan, but that is probably just too much government for Our Leaders.

Aren't these merely patches to fix the problem until next year? What if our levels are even lower next year? The amount of water, on this sphere we live on, is constant, i.e. the water isn't ever used up. So, the theory is that we use water in our house, it goes to a field line, or sewer, evaporates through the soil, sunlight brings it to the heavens, it condenses, and rains. It don't rain here anymore. So the majority of our water leaves downstream. The mountains aren't being re-plenished. We might ought to think about major water conservation / recycling efforts, to keep our County afloat. Get some tree huggers together and deliver some reports, as to what we can do to reduce our H2O footprint. It's fairly obvious what to do to fix the 'rain cycle': Reduce the consumption of Electricity, and reduce the carbon emissions.

viva Evo Morales

It was 41 Friday. That doesn't sound like plenty of water to me.

To put it into perspective, 41 cfs would easily flow through a 36-inch diameter drainage pipe. That ain't much of a river.

There are many good web sites that have suggestions on what to do to change ones water usage. A good place to start is: (link...)

It's amazing when you realize that 3% of fresh water is used by cities (that's our needs), 4% by industry, and 93% by agriculture. Did you know that it is estimated that it takes over 2,000 GALLONS of water to put ONE POUND of beef on our table!

For a good understandable discription of "water footprint" here's a web page: (link...)

PER PERSON ANNUALLY

• US - 660,000 gallons (large because of all the imports -external footprint - we purchase)
• CHINA - 185,000 gallons (small because they make what they need and rely on very little imports)
• JAPAN - 304,000 gallons

From our friends at the Hellbender Press circa 2000

(link...)

Water: we take it for granted. In East Tennessee, we turn grouchy when meteorologists predict two days of rain in a row. We're water-rich, right?
Wrong. Occasional drought and rapid development are putting pressures on local public water suppliers, who in this part of the state rely primarily on surface water to quench the thirst of their customers.