Imagine turning the faucet…and nothing coming out
by Emily R
I live right inside the Fulton County border. Just outside the entrance to my neighborhood, there’s a huge sign that says “WATERING BANNED”. It is illegal for us to turn on the hose or run through the sprinklers because the water supply is extremely low! Fulton County is not the only county in Georgia where watering is banned- 61 counties are included! The effects of the drought are enormous. Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier are Georgia’s primary water sources. Allatoona’s water depth has dropped 13 feet below normal! Lanier’s level is about 12 feet below normal!
Check out this link
The Endangered Species Act requires water to be released from Lake Lanier to flow downstream to Florida, in an attempt to save the Gulf Sturgeon from extinction. While it is important to save this species, there is a controversy over whether it is worth sending 37,400 gallons of water per second (via the Chattahoochee River), instead of saving it for the dry winter that lies ahead. Here is a website about the Gulf Sturgeon.
What do you think we should do?
October 7th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
What do I think we should do? Well, we can start by obeying the water restrictions. We could also take shorter showers (I don’t know about you, but I like to take long showers), and remembering to turn the water all the way off when we’re done at the sink. Also, its a good idea to only do FULL loads of laundry. Remember that article that Miss Baker showed us? Remember how much water that animals need? So, maybe we can cut down on the amount of meat that we consume daily. Go to http://www.city.ames.ia.us/waterweb/Water_Plant/water_conserv.htm for more ideas.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
One good way to save water that basically everybody can do is simply turn off the water while your brushing your teeth. I’ve gotten into a habit of doing this since i heard of it in about 3rd grade. Now I do it almost all the time and save water at the same time! There are so many other ways people can save water, if they just knew about them.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I think that the drought is just devastating right now. This afternoon we were driving down the road and went over the Chattahoochee and it was down really far. I understand why they are banning water completely outdoors, but what I don’t get is why they are sending so much water to Florida for one species. If it were for more, I would understand, but the thing is is it is just for one fish. With the government people guessing that by the end of February, Lake Altoona might be drained I think that we should take into consideration how much water will be left for us. I think what we should do is cut down on the amount of water we send to Florida, save the additional water for us if the drought gets worse, and keep the same watering ban.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
CAROLINE:
I GO WITH CAROLINE!! NUMERO UNO COMES WAY BEFORE AN IRRONIOUS SPECIES OF FISH. Okay, if this fish were edible, you get a bit of a let up, but what about salmon, and whiting, and perch. There’s enough fish to go around.
CODIE:
what are other, I guess, unobvious ways I can save water?
KATIE:
never thought about it, but you’re right. As a football player, I do more laundry than the law allows, and I always just put in my football stuff. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to do a little extra searching for similar, and just as dirty/wet clothes, huh?
Now, for me. I think what we’re doing now can just suffice. Importing water is out of the question. It isn’t worth the money, and from where? It can’t be from an ocean, because that’s salt water. I’m glad you just adressed the issue Emily. I sure as heck wasn’t thinking about it. Nice at how you threw out something really relevant, and mixed it with biology. Endangered species are relevant, don’t get me wromg, but where I get my 3 gallons of water a day concerns me a little bit more. We just are unlucky with the weather. Not much we can do.
Good Blog
October 8th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
its pretty scary that were running so low on water. i’ve never thought of water as something you need to conserve. its hard to obey the water restrictions sometimes because i always forget that there is a drought, and that we need to conserve water. i think we could leave the sink off while were brushing teeth instead of letting it run, and same with when washing our faces.
October 8th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
It’s really hard to decide what is more important, saving the fish, or getting water supplies where we need it. There are negative sides to both decisions. If you choose to stop sending water to the fish, it will go extinct and the ecosystem in that part of the country will be messed up. If you choose to keep sending water to the fish, the water level in the lake will continue to go down and the human population in Atlanta will suffer from it, not to mention all the plants that won’t get enough water. I think that we should try to cut down on the amount of water we consume right now, and see where that leaves our water supply the next time we have to drain some water.
October 8th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
The first thing we need to do is definitely obey the water restriction laws, and maybe come up with some punishments for if people don’t. We also should use paper plates more so we don’t have to use the dishwasher as much. I also think we should dedicate more scientists to building water filtration and cleansing devices so we can use it to be able to drink ocean water. We need to be careful not to leave the water running while we are brushing our teeth or washing our faces. I think it’s terrible how much the lakes have dropped, so I think we should avoid contact with the lake in any way (unless we are desperate for water). While I feel sorry for that species, we are REALLY going to need water, so I think we should stop sending as much. AWESOME post Emily
October 8th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I think 1 thing we could do is not wash cars so often…I know my cars are gross…but some people wash their cars so much and it uses alot of water. We could also listen to the restritions like Evelyn said. I also agree with Codie…we could turn the water off also.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
To be honest, i’ve never really thought about where the water came from when i turn a faucet on. I know that we’re going thru a drought right now though. To help this situation to conserve water, people can turn the water off when they brush their teeth or take shorter showers. People waste water off, me included. However, everyone can make a difference : ) good post emily!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Wow, what a tough question to answer. I think Katie brings up a great point. If we would just learn to conserve water better, we would not even have to worry about the drought. It all comes down to wanting to make a difference. It doesn’t even have to be huge. As Katie also mentioned, just shorten the length of your showers. That’s easy enough, right? As for what I think we should do, I think we should, and this is because of my selfish nature, keep the water to make sure we survive. That may sound awful but it is just how I am. I would love to see the animal saved but not at the expense of human beings in Georgia.
October 8th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Wow I’ve heard so much about this lately. My neighborhood has that sign outside of it as well. I agree with Evelyn, I feel bad for the species, but we need to stop sending so much, I would like to keep having water. My brother was telling me that one of his college professors told them that if we didn’t get some rain soon that they might have to cancel all the classes at UGA for a while so the toilets and sinks wouldn’t be used in the buildings. It’s a little scary to think we could run out of water.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
This a topic i know is bothering a bunch of other people. Before reading this i didnt realize how much water i use daily. It is a littl escary to think that we may be running out of water. I do agree with katies point about learning to pbey the new water restrictions. I have had a boat on lake Leiner for a couple fo years. Every year the water will drop alot. My friend has a house at the lake and they have to keep moving their dock out farther and farther to keep it in deep enough water. It is a very scary thing to think about. I do think it would help if we could cut down on things we do today that use so much water. I know that i use far to much water than i should and that is something that i will work on.
October 9th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Well, I have a lake house on Lanier, and ever since last summer the water has been slowly declining. The First time it went down, it was the Army Corps of Engineers mistake. They “acciedintly” released somewhere around 300 billion gallons of water. That brought the water in my cove down about 5 feet. Now since the gulf sturgeon plus the drought, the water in my cove has gone down 13 feet! My dock is sitting on mud!!!
Now we can’t even use our boat or anything. It is important to save a endangered species though, but do we really need to release all this water!?!
October 9th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
(To add to my first comment)In addition, Atlanta gets all its drinking water from these lakes. They are taking more water out than is going back in, and if they run dry, we will be in quite a pickle. Also I think a human is a bigger priority thana fish.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
wow i had no idea that the water crisis is getting that bad. I knew it was a problem, but not as bad as almost wiping a species out of extinction. I was watching the news one day and saw a story about how people are being caught watering their yards and were given some hefty fines. One guy had been caught four times and was facing some time in jail.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
This is a very hard thing to grasp. I have always thought that i would have water. It is hard to think that we might not get it everytime we want to. I hope that we can all make efferts to not use so much of it. I was thinking as i was putting my trash can in the house that i could use the rain water it caught to maybe do something with it. It could do alot, I mean i wouldnt drink it but i would use it somehow.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
The fact that watering is banned is really creepy. I heard on the radio that they might have to ration water if we don’t get enough rain.When we went to Lake Lanier two weeks ago it was really scary to see how far the water was down. Usually there is a beach where we go swimming and there are ropes around it so people won’t get hit by boats. The ropes were actually on the ground now( usually where the ropes are is about an inch over my head). I agree with Caroline in that I think that we should not send the water to Florida. I know it’s saving the fish, but I think we need it more. Awsome post Emily!!
October 10th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
The watering ban is not good for our environment. when I went to Lake Lanier a couple of weeks ago the water was as low as i have ever seen it. It was scary. I don’t think water needs to be released from Lake Lanier to flow downstream to Florida, in an attempt to save the Gulf Sturgeon from extinction. I think that is wasting our lake water that could kept the lake’s depth up. The Gulf Sturgeon is only one kind of fish. Who cares if it goes extint. I haven’t ever heard of the gulf surgeon to be honest with you.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Its just one fish. There are plenty more species of sturgeon in the world and people should not need to cut back on using water to save a fish.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Blake, Billy, and those with comments like theirs, let me ask you a question. You see this issue as being so black and white - either the gulf sturgeon goes or I go! Is it really that easy? Follow the link that Emily provided. Exemptions to this ban include car wash businesses, golf courses, and watering the lawns of certain homeowners. Should these be our top priority? Now, I’m not anti-golf or against washing my car, however, when faced with a water crisis, why would we continue to let water be used for those purposes instead of making sure we keep our ecosystems healthy?
Maybe you think since they are businesses they (and the economy) should come first. What worries me about this type of thinking is that it doesn’t take into consideration that we depend on our environment. If we see all environmental problems as so black and white (it’s either us or them), I don’t think we will make good decisions.
Check out these resources:
What are Ecosystem Services?
Article in Scientific American on newstands now
Millennium Assessment
October 10th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
The water ban has also effected me as well. In my neighborhood it is also illegal to water always. There are also many people who dont listen to that and disobey ALL THE TIME! Luckily my mother decided not to disobey, and we have the most green and “lush” grass in the whole neighborhood. Isn’t that funny the way that worked out
October 10th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Honestly i say forget the fish!! It is poiintless to protect a fish that is not very important. We are running out of water and protecting this fish is useless because it will eventually go extinct because we are going to run our lakes dry. The fish will go extinct when we use its habitat for water. It will just put us in a worse situation. I do feel bad for saying that though bacause it is not fair to the fish. But there are priorities. We have the biological dominance in this situation but we are giving what we need to the fish!! That is like being on a deserted island with an endangered species of kangaroos. There is a rescue boat passing by and you make them take the kangaroos. The boat is never seen again. NO! Something must be done. It honestly scares me that the government is so liberal that they would put a fish before thier own species, country, thenselves! If glaciers are suposedly melting at an alarming rate and causong out oceans to rise then the Sturgen will be fine. we can use the water from the gulf because the melted glacier water will replace it and there is plenty of ocean. It is all survival of the fittest.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
It really is hard to say because its good that he is saving water but at the same time he has to keep his health! He could just turn off the water when its not neccessary and take shorter showers. Everyone in Georgia has been affected by the water ban in some way because in my neighborhood people had a certain time to turn on sprinklers and water things. There are always negative things that come along with choices but i guess it all depends on which one you think is better.
October 11th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Before reading this article i really didn’t think about the watering ban that much, just a ban that was put up too save the government money or something. I didn’t really mind that some of our grass was getting brown, i mean come on people it’s just grass, and i knew some people were not listening, but i didn’t care. but now i know that it’s not good to be using so much water while the ban is up, i hope that the gulf sturgeon doesn’t go extinct, i iknow that it’s just a fish but everythings important to some degree! This article told me why the watering ban is there and lots of other stuff that i didn’t know before, thanks alot Emily, Good Blog!!
October 11th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
I looked at this issue the wrong way and I want to thank you Miss Baker for showing me what the ban would really do. Looking at the things that the water ban would be on, most are trivial things that we do not need for survival. However, this sturgeon needs the water to survive. I know I flip-flopped on this issue but after looking deeper into it, we could easily spare some water and just cut down on some non-essential things that waste water in order to help a species survive.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I disagree that saving conserving water to save another species is unneccessary. I think that even if it seems like a waste, the fact of the matter is that we are possibly taking our natural resources for granted. Most people don’t realize that our resources aren’t neccessarily renewable. The fact that we have to send water elsewhere points out that the water in that area is decreasing. If we have to conserve our resources because they are quickly depleting, then I believe it is an important lesson to learn. No specie is replaceble and once it’s gone, it can’t be brought back. I also think that we use too much water and we can live with much less than we think we need. We waste too much water running the dishwasher every night, even when its not full and doing a small load of laundry on full cycle. Sure, it seems like a lot to cut back, but we don’t need all the water we usually use. So cut back and save some species!
October 12th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I think it is so unfair that lawn businesses can use water when most businesses rip out plants every few weeks and don’t plant native plants. They are wasting water when they rip out the plant in a few weeks. Also by planting plants not native and not used to the cold dry winters we waste water on those plants. This doesn’t help either the Gulf Sturgeon or us, citizens of Georgia.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
I find it irritating we have to use our resources in our area when we have had droughts etc. for a fish out of our environment. But, at the same time if we had a situation like that we would want help also. It’s a tricky situation to be in, but in the end its good we’re helping them out, and i guess we could cut back on quite a few unecessary water uses.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
This is a really interesting topic to discuss and it goes over alot of information that can be contreversial expecially in societies problems today. I read most of your comments, on how we can conserve water, but also the other comments that dissagree with the fact that we should save the Sturgeon fish. I think that we should keep our focus on sending water down. A species is not a small group, concept, or small anything. It’s huge and crucial to an enviroment/ecosystem! If you wipe out one species, it will effect the rest of the ecosystem. Sturgeons reproduce between 8-12 years old, and live till they are 25. That is alot of reproduction, which means LOTS more fish being brought into the enviroment.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Watch “Georgia’s Water Crisis” On WSB-TV Channel 2, Sunday, October 14 @ 6:30 p.m
October 15th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
It’s really scary to think that by Febuary, the lake could be empty! I think that we should be doing what we can to save an endangered species, but 37,400 gallons of water per second is alot of water. Especially since we already have a major drought as it is, it could do more harm than good.
October 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Tonight at dinner my mom asked my dad about the watering ban and if it was true that the governer is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. My dad said that he is. I found this really interesting article on ajc.com that talks about how Perdue was thinking about suing (before he actually did it) them for the draining. Right now we are in a record breaking drought and Florida and Alabama (who we are sending billions of gallons of water to a day) don’t even have a watering ban in effect! That much water could be used for many things. It said that alone we are sending about 1.5 billion gallons to Florida a day. I know that the ecosystem needs to stay healthy and all, but the thing is is that people don’t follow the watering ban and therefore we are using water illegaly and the amount of water we have is decreasing quicker. I think right now they need to crack down on the watering ban and really keep people from watering. They need to make the people that are watering more aware of what is happening. Meanwhile I think that they need to keep the amount of water they are sending to Florida and Alabama at a small amount, until they go into a drought and really need it and until we get our watering situation under control. It just really makes me upset that people keep on watering when they are not supposed to. I know that ever since I heard this, I have tried to make the time I spend in the shower a lot less because to me it really saves a lot of water. I just wish that people would become more aware of how serious they need to take the watering ban.
Ajc.com Source:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2007/10/13/watergov1013b.html
October 17th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
P.S.-I was reading the comment that Miss Baker wrote about keeping our ecosystems healthy. Just one last question that I was unsure about. If we are sending water to Florida to keep their ecosystem healthy, we are retaining water from our environment. That means that we are killing our plants and other producers that eventually feed the primary, secondary, and so on up consumers. By not watering our plants, arnt we messing up our ecosystem?
October 17th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Hi Caroline,
You bring up some important points.
First I want to clarify the point of my comment. My comment was in response to students who were very opinionated about the watering ban but failed to include sufficient evidence in their comments to back up their opinions. Remember in science evidence is what matters. My point in making the comment was to help students understand that issues such as these must be examined scientifically and that we must avoid making rash decision based on very little evidence. If the water crisis gets worse, emotions will start to overtake reasoning and people will begin making very unsound decisions.
So, in other words, my point was to hopefully show that we need to truly understand the problem before we make judgments on situations. Now about your question regarding conserving the water for our own ecosystem. First, the urban areas surrounding Atlanta have very poor primary productivity at least relative to the areas in South Georgia and parts of Florida and Alabama. Check out this great article.
The conservation method we use in America is to protect certain areas at the expense of others. This method really become popular when Theodore Roosevelt was president. Biologically, there are a few reasons why this method is not the best, however, it is what is in place and I don’t foresee any changes to it in the future.
Some students are very confused by the desire to save what they think is a single fish by sending water downstream. However, research into this issue yields a better understanding of why this requirement is in place. First of all it isn’t solely in place to protect the environment. There are several businesses downstream which rely on the water to continue their business. Back to the fish. The fish, along with several other species included in the watering requirement, may environmentally act like canaries in a coal mine and help us determine the health of our more productive ecosystems.
Certainly, it is debatable just how much water should be realeased in order to meet the above goals. However, I think the bigger issue is this…
Morally (not scientifically because science cannot make moral decisions), we should put human health first, however, I greatly disagree that washing my car and watering my lawn (which offers no net primary productivity) is a good way to manage our water resources when they are limited. I despise the scare tactics used and unthinkingly accepted by people (“IT’S FISH OR US!”) because they are so blatantly unfair. If it comes down to it, there’s no moral human being on the planet who would choose a fish over a human life. But, it is not rational for us to solve problems using fear as a driving force.
We will never succeed if we rely solely on fear mongering and gossip.
Currently, it’s more reasonable to say, “It’s the environment (and certain businesses downstream) or my golf course.” Or, “It’s the environment (and certain businesses downstream) or washing my car.” Now, you can point out that the golf course and car washes are run by business (and thus, people) who rely on their businesses to financially survive. So the question becomes when do we take into account the economic value of preserving nature and say that there is a certain risk involved in operating a business that requires limited resources and therefore those people who run those business must acknowledge that risk and be prepared to deal with consequences.
I’m in agreement with your statement that we need to “crackdown on the watering ban.” People who are abusing our water should be held accountable and not just financially. The problem with relying on a financial system of punishment is you have some very wealthy people who will just say, “Well, I can afford the fine.” The only way you can hold people accountable and make them change is to socially outcast them. Make it clear to them that their peers look down on them for their disrespect to others in this crisis and that their peers will not tolerate such disrespect.
I hope I cleared up any confusion anyone had regarding my previous post. Caroline, thanks for providing everyone with the link to the article. Your desire to learn more about this situation combined with your dedication to doing your part to conserve water demonstrate both intelligence and compassion.
Miss Baker
October 18th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Miss Baker i agree with alot of stuff you are saying. I dont understand how it is the environment or us. When you water the golf course you are watering many living things. You are watering flowers, plants, and the deer drink the water from the streams and ponds. The fish have plenty of water. So by saying its the environment or the golf course i dont understand what you are saying. If i had to choose i would have a hard time giving up the golf course.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
I think that something really bad about this crisis is that people dont really “believe” it. some are soooo used to having everything right there for them that they dont realize that it could be just around the corner from being gone. and its not like something unnecesary is running low….Its WATER! without it we will be in serious danger. Ive heard that lake lanier, our main water supply, had about 80 days of water left. Thats really bad and even worse because people are ignoring the threat and using up water as if it was inlimited. Not only do people need water, animals need it too and if the lake runs out then all the fish die. Because of this we can all tkae steps to conserving water. Heres a few:
October 18th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
OK here is few ways to conserve water (i hit submit on the last one by mistake)
1. turn off faucet when using a sink between uses( brushing teeth)
2. Dont water lawn (ive seen people water their lawns and walk away for a while and leave the hose on) Just think “lawn or life”
3.TAke quicker showers and dont waste drinking water.
4. dont waste water on your car.
5. Tell other people do this too
October 18th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Miss Baker makes a good point. We waste so much water on things that are just not necessary. I mean, you can live without washing your car or having a perfect green lawn. People seem to think that we have an unlimited amount of water to use, when we really don’t. I think that the water crisis in Atlanta has really opened some people’s eyes to seeing that we don’t have an unlimited resource.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
After hearing these things its starting to make scince how intertwined things are in science. I do see that it is not us or the fish and I do think that if we can we can help we need to. It is still hard I guess to see why if we are in a crisis we dont do something that could help it. I just think that maybe we can take less water downstream or something, nothing drastic. I jusst think the little things we can do are good.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Also what i meant to say before and forgot was that i never thought that giving water to plants would give me more. I mean i kind of knew but i never put two and two together. One great thing about this class and blog is that it has helped my awareness and ability to see how my actions affect nature. Now i see that my actions affect nature which affects me which affects my actions. Gosh its a ton to take in but i think all in all we should just be more aware about what we are doing.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Miss Baker-
Thank you so much for clearing up my confusion. Your comment really helped. It makes a lot more sense. I have to agree with you that our ecosystem needs to take priority above washing our car or watering the grass. There are other ways that we can do these things. I was thinking about what you said in class today about when you turn on the shower to collect the water that you let go while it is heating up-that would be a lot of water right there. Thanks again!
October 21st, 2007 at 9:57 am
I was thinking about the watering ban we are in right know. i was thinking of some ways to conserve water. Here are some.
1. take shorter showers
2. don’t wash your car
3. when you brush your teeth don’t leave the water running
4. when you take a shower put a bucket down and try to catch some water
5. don’t water your lawn
6. people in my neighborhood have wells. they should not water their lawn even if they have wells
Those are just a couple ways that I thought of to conserve water.
October 21st, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I agree with a lot of what Miss Baker said. I also think that as the water crisis gets worse and worse, people will get worried and stop thinking rationally and make stupid and unecessary decisions in the midst of panic. I also think that it is a good idea to try to save the fish, because if that one fish becomes extinct, then the whole ecosystem where that species of fish lives will be messed up and thrown off a little bit.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Billy, I certainly don’t want you to think I’m anti-golf. Golf is a great sport. However, it is necessary to understand the amount of water needed to keep a golf course in shape.
“The world’s golf courses require 2.5 billions gallons of water a day for irrigation. This is the same amount of water needed to support 4.7 billion people per day!”
-Worldwatch Institute, “Matters of Scale: March/April 2004, Planet Golf,” 2004
In a time of crisis, this water is better spent elsewhere. There are a lot of golf course managers who are very progressive in seeking out alternatives to current practices. Those people should be supported. Golfers themselves should take it as part of their responsibility to encourage these changes to ensure the continuation of the sport even in times of resource crises.
You mentioned golf courses provide good habitat for wildlife. However, I’m going to have to argue that point. Building the golf course meant replacing the natural wildlife habitat that was already there, adding pesticides to it, and developing the area around it. This greatly reduces the productivity of the ecosystem. I do agree that golf is better than any other sport in that it doesn’t completely reduce ecosystem productivity to zero. But, it still has it’s drawbacks.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
UH-HIMM. Sorry, it’s been a minute since I’ve been “on the scene” of the blog. Well, wow, uh miss baker, you bring your facts to the table! I admire that. Way to lead by example. Also, ya know what it makes me think of when you talked about the “enviorment or us” threat? Yeah, reminds me of politics. Perhaps the correlation is a bit off, but let me present my case. Last year, Mark Taylor made some serious tax cut promises. He also got on Sonny Purdue for his Education cuts. He said basically “Don’t Vote for Sonny, because he cut your education funds”, whlie his tax cuts were gonna drain Georgia’s education even more than Sonny Purdue’s previous cut, that he (sonny) promised to replenish, plus more funds for other educational areas. It’s all reacting on the spur of the moment. If any common guy just stepped back for a second, they would of of saw, and asked him, ” so, how much are you’re tax cuts draining our education?” and he couldn’t of answered. Your thesis is extremley logical, like that Joel Olsteen guy on T.V., that tells a joke before every sermon. If you’re laughing, and relaxed, you think better. I guess that’s the idea? Yeah?
GREAT POINT MS.B.
P.S. I haven’t gone off the deep end have I? I know I got kinda out there. Sorry.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Miss Baker you make some great points. I would like to say that the water going on the golf course is water from the suers. The water is not very clean. You could not drink it. I never knew it required 2.5 billion gallons of water to irragate a golf per day. That is amazing. It is amazing that the amount of water a golf course uses a day could 4.7 billion people a day. That is alot of people and alot of water.
October 24th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I was trying to image having no water. It would be terrible. Think you couldnt take showers. That would be a bad thing. You would be smelly and unclean. You also couldnt drink water or wash your clothes or dry your clothes. Think of not having grass because it all would have died. Alot of foods take water to make them. You wouldnt those foods any more. You would have a dirty car. you wouldnt be able to wash your face or get the toothpaste out of your mouth after you brushed your teeth. It would be a terrible thing to run out of water to use.
October 25th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Its seems that alot of people are trying to cut back on water use but it may not be enough because we arent geting any RAIN. If we DO run out what will we do. I’m wondering if we could be able to “import” water from local states. then i heard that some states were refusing our requests saying that we should have planned ahead and claimed that they had seen the drought coming. Even if this is true i hope they still help us out because even if we do cut back on water use we will still have a major problem on ouur hands. If anyone hears on the news (i couldnt find much online) about our struggle to get more water please comment. We really may only have until March 2008.
October 27th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
The issue of the drought didn’t seem that serious at first because when i first heard it I just kind of brushed it off.. but now its getting pretty scary to me. I’ve kind of gotten a little out of hand with obsesing over not using any water we dont need and my mom got kind of annoyed. But i’ve just gotten really paranoid i’m going to wake up and have no water.
October 28th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Steven that is a good idea to import water from other states. I dontknow if they would let us. The states near us are experiences the same problem except for Florida. I dont think we will run out of water like some people do. It will rain alot this winter. It can not not rain for uch a long period of time. It just wouldnt happen.
October 29th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Steven where did you get that we are going to run out of water in March 2008. I watching the news last night. The weather came on and said that we are going to have a La Nina winter. That means we are going to get alot of rain my father and the weather man said. So if that is true we would come out of the drought or make up alot of the water we are lacking. That would mean we would not run out of water in March 2008.
October 31st, 2007 at 5:21 pm
A strong La Nina would bring lots of rain. However, meteorologists expect a moderate to weak La Nina this winter. This will not bring much rain.
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=105393
November 1st, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Miss Baker, I wanted to ask you about something. My mom said that we are giving a lot of our water supply to the citizens of Florida and Alabama. Is this true? She said only 5% of our water is used by Georgians. She also said about Gatorade and Coca-Cola companies in Atlanta that use most of the water.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Miss baker, I liked your golf comment. I was trying to explain to my ignorant father that golf courses are using a lot of water. He still doesn’t believe that they use that much even though I read him the exact numbers off of your comment. I feel like I’m stuck between a drought and a hard place here. It seems to me that none of my family cares at all about what is going on. they seem to have the mentality of we’ve got water now, so what’s the worry? Even my own sister didn’t care and just wasted bath water while she finished her homework. I turned it off, but then she hit me and said to turn it back on so the water could get hot. Okay, I know that it can take bath water a few minutes to heat up, but i think it takes just a little less than twenty minutes. and what’s even worse is that she doesn’t even close the drain thing. she just let the water run down the drain for twenty minutes while she waited on the water to “heat up”. I can’t wait to see what happens to her when our water supply is completely gone and she can’t take her “precious baths” anymore.
by the way, Amanda brought up some great questions. I am eager to hear the answers to those as well.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I forgot to mention this on my last comment, but what would you think I should do about my family, Miss Baker? I feel really bad that they aren’t at all concerned about this.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Amanda, I’m not sure about the 5% amount or the water given to Coca-cola and Gatorade. Have you tried researching this online?
Steph, don’t feel so burdened to make your family respond. Lead by example by showing them how easy it is to conserve the water you use. Second, learn as much as you can about the water crisis and stay on top of new developments. Every once in awhile mention some of the things you’ve learned, but don’t mention it all at once. You don’t want to overwhelm people or make them feel guilty. That rarely inspires people. In the end, know that you’re responsible for your own actions.
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:47 pm
My family is the same as Steph’s. I try to explain the importance of saving water but they just don’t seem to care. It makes me really angry that they aren’t taking into consideration just how desperate the situation is. People think that this problem is just going to go away, but it’s not. If we don’t do something about America’s huge water consumption, in a few years we all may face the situation Georgians are facing right now.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
I think that it is serious that were running out of water. A way I know to conserve water is, like Miss Baker said in class that when you flush the toilet you use 5 gallons i think, but I’ve heard that putting water bottles in the back of the tiolet filling them up with the clean water in the filter stuff behind the toilet and leaving them in there will decrease the amount of water the tiolet bowl fills up with. I dont reccomend doing this unless your parents let you because I know my parents would kill me if I broke the tiolet cramming water bottles behind it.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
[…] In Thing 4 the task is multi-fold: examine a number of blogs, evaluate blogging with a number of given critera, make comment on blogs read. Whew! I hope that my benumbed fingers are up to it. Let’s examine the “genre of blog writing in general”. First impression is - instant messaging on steriods. The writing style is chatty, personal, introspective, and highly opinonated. Examine the comments in the blog Imagine Turning On the Faucet and Nothing Coming Out . Most of the comments really don’t address the “big picture” but rather deal with how does this affect me. […]
February 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
[…] It seems that blogging as a genre can be several different styles. Some seem to be casual as in Imagine Turning On the Faucet and Nothing Coming Out while others are more formal like Why I Don’t Assign Homework. They can informative Spies Like Us or just hopping on a soap box to tell the world. Also with reading blogs I found that it seems to be interactive type of read. The blogger can enhance his topic with links and images. I also think reading a blog allows the reader to become more involved with the topic because he is also reading feedback from the comments and also can add a comment. The commenting on a blog is another way of interacting with not only the blogger but also with the other people who have commented. You could almost say it way new way to network with people. The group already has mutual interest in the topic and has link to each other. Also the commenting allows the reader to get multiple view points on a topic which leads to a better understanding of the information. Hopefully with this class I can work on ways to use blogging as a learning tool. I’m sure interactive conversions on topics could be a way. […]
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
[…] http://www.missbakersbiologyclass.com/blog/2007/10/07/imagine-turning-the-faucetand-nothing-coming-out was the first blogI read today and yes, I think there is a very real question of what is needed in order to sustain the availablitity of water during this long drought in GA. The amount of water to save the sturgeon is only one of many challenges that will demand dialogue beyond blogging! However, the blogging may prompt more people to think seriously about what we are facing in the future should the drought continue. […]
February 26th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
[…] I also enjoyed reading the Biology blog post about the Georgia drought. It is amazing to me how many kids have commented with their thoughts on conservation. This is a good example of a problem-based learning opportunity. Grab a free edublog to your get your own avatar! No Comments so far Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> […]
March 6th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
[…] Task 1: Create a blog post in response to the exploratory reading and questions listed above. Feel free to reflect on anything that struck you about the posts themselves itself or the genre of blogging in general. Be sure to include a link to any post(s) you refer to and include “Thing 4″ in your post title. (NOTE:Because blogs are frequently updated, the “front page” content is always changing. When linking to a blog post, you need to use the Permalink, which is the direct, permanent link to that post. Visit our Edublogs Help page for tips on locating the Permalink of a blog post).As you read, consider the following questions (feel free to adapt and expand on any of these or add your own): I love blogging!!! Okay, I mean I love the idea of blogging ( I am still learning what it means!) It was so interesting to read the blogs of other educators out there because I realized that there are so many different types of blogs, and so many different ways to blog!!! I could really get lost in blog world, and I can think of a dozen different subjects I’d love to research and read. One of the things I really like about the Web course is that I have a focus and a task. Those of you who know me know that I can easily (and innocently) get off track and momentarily forget what I am supposed to be doing. Blogging is meant to be conversational; that is, it is reading someone’s thoughts and ideas then being able to to have a conversation about those thoughts and ideas. What’s really cool is that you get to read the thoughts, reflect on them, and then come back and respond in a thoughtful way. I am particularly interested in how people use blogs with younger elementary students. I teach five and six year olds and while the range of their writing skills varies, they are all at the beginning stages of writing. That’s why I loved the dead words blog, because it allowed kids to write exactly the way they write, inventive spellings and all. How exciting! I was impressed with the WATER CONSERVATION BLOG because I can see how using blogs helps kids to formulate and share their opinions and I loved the way the teacher, Ms. Baker acted as a facilitator to the students. Blog writing is immediate. You can publish your work instantaneously. Because it’s published, I think it makes you a lot more accountable for what you write. It also frees you up to share your ideas which, for teachers, is invaluable. I think we learn by communicating with each other, and blogging is a great way to do that. […]
March 16th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Great comments about a complex and controversial issue! In Australia too, we are struggling with drought, water restrictions, environmental flows and new sources of water. The Victorian government has recently proposed desalination plants (which use large amounts of power) to provide drinnking water for Melbourne.
An interesting site, where you can calculate your annual water consumption or ‘water footprint’:
http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home
June 10th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I like the way Miss Baker has used blogging in her classroom. Blogging allows for classroom discussions without everyone talking over one another. In a blog, students can be heard and understood in a much deeper way. Blogging allows for students to really think about what they understand and not be under pressure to “answer the question.” I would like to try this forum with some of my classes.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
A great way for students to talk about a very important topic! Kudos!
October 15th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I’m really impressed with the conversation going on in this thread. Students shared their ideas about the drought much more than they would have during a normal class setting. Let’s be honest- we wouldn’t always have the time for each student to reflect at such length.
Blogging allows students to express themselves much more freely than in the classroom. In fact, the entire genre seems to be more relaxed, more reflective and more personal. It’s often while writing in a stream of conscious style that you may have an “epiphany”
Reading the original post doesn’t seem to be any different from reading an editorial in a newspaper. It’s the conversation the original post sparks which is new. I also think people seem to be more direct, saying things they wouldn’t normally say to someone’s face. (e.g. the post about assigning homework).
On the other hand, this frankness can pose problems (bullying, fragile egos) which the teacher would have to monitor closely. The whole idea is to have a safe environment in which to express your thoughts, right?
I can’t comment on “blogging writing style”. The styles seem to be, for the most part, typical prose. However, these styles can be as unique as the author.
I would definitely think there is blogging literacy. There are many acronyms I’ll have to get accustomed to. Hopefully I’ll get there!
Blogging can facilitate learning in so many ways that I haven’t even imagined yet. The obvious one would be the teacher prompt/student exchange outside of traditional class time. I also like the idea of providing links and exploratory assignments on the web for my students.
I definitely took something from the post The Ripe Environment I’m excited to find some blogs related to high school social studies curriculum.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:32 am
There can be several genres of blogging. Reading this is very interesting. There are alot of good points. I think that by being able to comment then the writer can become more involved with their topics. Bloggs are great because they are directed specifically one subject. Take this one for example the thought of turning on your faucet and nothing coming out gets your attention. In this it talks about the water supply running out and ways of saving it. Things that individuals can do to preserve the water that they have left. I know great things can be done when everyone pulls together for one common goal. I think that is a great way for kids to learn. It creates ways of learning how to save water, it also gives them feedback on what they read and if anyone agrees or disagrees with what they think.