Drought

has forced the city of Fayetteville to shut down

its water plant again.

"If

the water's not there, the water's not

there," said Rick Eastin, city water system

director.

The

city takes its raw water from Whitewater Creek

just south of Ga. Highway 54. The plant was shut

down due to low water flow last summer, and the

same conditions have returned, said Eastin.

combination of drought and leaks in the dam have

emptied Lake Bennett, just north of the city's

intake, and owners are currently working to

repair the dam. But Eastin said the dam repairs

have nothing to do with the city's problem. Pumps

are taking creek water from north of the dam and

putting it back in south of the dam.

It's

the lack of water flow in the creek itself that

has forced the shutdown.

"We're

required by law to release two million gallons a

day for downstream users," Eastin said.

"Anything above that, we can withdraw. But

right now there's only about one million gallons

a day flowing down the creek. There's nothing we

can do about that."

Eastin

said even though no water was spilling over the

top of the dam at Lake Bennett before the lake

was emptied, city measuring instruments showed

five million gallons a day flowing past the water

intake, proving that a leaking dam was causing

the lake to empty, not any problems upstream.

Once

the lake emptied out, the flow went away, Eastin

said.

"It's

just dry," he said.

Until

there's more water available, Fayetteville will

buy water for its residents from the Fayette

County Water System, which has ample supply for

now, according to director Tony Parrott.

Following

last year's drought, Fayetteville had to adjust

its budget upward by about $100,000 to account

for the difference in cost of producing its own

water versus buying it from Fayette.

How

much this year's drought will cost remains to be

seen.

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