‘Big Thirst’ author recommends regional water management for Metro Atlanta
Charles Fishman
The author of a book examining the future of water recommends metro Atlanta manages water as a region.
When he was writing the book, The Big Thirst, three years ago, Fast Company reporter Charles Fishman noticed Metro Atlanta has dozens of water departments. Generall
y speaking, Fishman says getting all those utilities on the same page is like herding cats.
“The motivation then is… my job is to get water for my community whether my community has 40,000 people in it or a million and a half people in it,” said Fishman. “It is much better to have in place regional water management.”
Fishman argues regional water management eliminates competition over what can be a scarce resource.
For example, metro Las Vegas had 7 water departments. Now, one person is responsible for allocating water across that region as it deals with one of the nation’s worst water shortages.
Fishman says Metro Atlanta benefits from relatively improved drought conditions and a court ruling granting drinking water access to Lake Lanier.
However, Fishman says Metro Atlantans still need to adopt new water habits. Those include catching and reusing rain water and using water management tools for gardening and landscaping.
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