The

lack of rain this summer is taking its toll on

the local water supply, but so far the situation

is not critical.

The

city of Fayetteville last week shut down its

Whitewater Creek water intake because the level

in the creek is too low. Lake Bennett, just north

of the city's intake, has suddenly run dry, a

situation that has baffled local and state

officials (see related story).

The

city is buying water from Fayette County to

replace the 700,000 gallons a day it normally

withdraws from Whitewater, about 55 percent of

what city residents use.

Fayette

County also has had to shut down its intake of

water from local rivers and streams, but is still

able to supply water needs to local residents

from its Lake Horton, Lake Peachtree and Starr's

Mill Pond reservoirs.

Fayetteville's

Whitewater Creek intake feeds directly into its

treatment plant with no reservoir to store water,

and thus the plant cannot operate.

"Until

we get a significant amount of rain, we won't be

able to start it back up," said city water

system director Rick Eastin. Under its permit

with the state Department of Natural Resources,

the city must maintain at least two million

gallons of water per day flowing downstream of

its drinking water intake.

Workers

routinely check the water level each morning

before starting up the city's water treatment

plant on First Manassas Mile Road. When they did

so last Monday morning, the level was below the

required two mgd, said Eastin.

"If

we were to crank up the water plant right now,

we'd dry up the swamp," said Eastin,

referring to a wetland south of the city's

intake, which is just off Ga. Highway 54.

Still

farther south, Whitewater Creek feeds Starr's

Mill Pond, which provides some of Fayette

County's drinking water, but so far the pond is

still providing water, said county water director

Tony Parrott.

Several

tributaries, including Ginger Cake Creek, feed

Whitewater south of Fayetteville's intake, said

Eastin. Also, the city daily discharges between

1.2 million and 1.5 million gallons of treated

sewage into the creek south of the city, he said.

But

don't worry about the quality of the water,

Eastin said. "The water we're putting into

the creek is better than what's there

already," he said.

The

city has not enacted any special watering

restrictions, other than the odd-even

restrictions that Fayette County always operates

under. Outside watering is allowed at residences

with odd-numbered addresses on odd-numbered

dates, and vice versa.

"They're

comfortable with that right now, and we'll mirror

whatever they do," said Eastin.

It's

the near future that worries Eastin. "We're

going into our historically dry season, and we're

already out of water," he said.

Rainfall

for 1999 already is running about 10 inches below

normal, according to the National Weather

Service, and September through November are

usually the driest months of the year. To get the

water plant cranked up again, Whitewater Creek

needs a lot of rain, Eastin said. "It can't

just be a big thundershower here or there

either," he added. "We need a good 15

inches."

Fayette

County's Parrott said he believes the local

drinking water supply will remain adequate as

long as people continue to observe the odd-even

watering restrictions.

"Most

of the people are watering like they're supposed

to," he said. "If everybody just helps

out that way, we're all right."

The

Lake Horton Reservoir is down about a foot, and

the county no longer is pumping water into the

lake from the Flint River, he said, but the

lake's supply is huge. "You're talking about

three and a half billion gallons of water,"

he said.

Even

the occasional rain helps the county's situation,

said Parrott. "That rain we had [in late

August] dropped water usage five million gallons

for that day," he said.

The

county buys about 16 percent of its water from

the city of Atlanta. Fayetteville currently is

paying Fayette for the 55 percent of its water

normally supplied from Whitewater Creek. The

remainder is supplied by the city's deep wells.

<!--

-----------