OGLETHORPE, Ga. --- Jimmy Carter has spent his golden years as a global humanitarian: a Nobel laureate pushing for peace in the Middle East, speaking out against the war in Iraq and battling to eradicate disease in Africa and Asia.
So the stage was a little smaller than he's used to when the 83-year-old stood before a microphone in the farming hamlet of Oglethorpe, assailing a plan to build three dams to provide water for drought-stricken Georgia, freshly picking a fight he won three decades ago as governor.
But there he was, warning the environmentalists that they're up against a formidable foe: The promise to "let people sprinkle their lawns seven days a week."
The proposal has resurfaced amid the historic drought, with a familiar cast of characters lining up behind it: Georgia congressmen, backed by real estate agents and business groups, say the dams could help guarantee water for Georgia for decades to come.
The dams would be built along the Flint, which winds more than 200 miles from the south Atlanta suburbs into the Gulf of Mexico.
The river has two small dams, but Reps. Nathan Deal and Lynn Westmoreland are encouraging the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a study of whether the bigger dams can be built.
"We're afraid sometimes of doing the hard things, we just want to put a Band-Aid on," said Ms. Westmoreland, a Republican who represents west Georgia. "This could be more of a permanent fix."
Opponents organized a weeklong paddle ride along the Flint last month that ended with a fish fry on the banks of the river in Oglethorpe. There, organizers announced the creation of the Flint Riverkeepers, a group dedicated to fighting the lawmakers' vision.
"Their intent might be honorable, but the impact would be devastating. There wouldn't be a river, it would be a ditch," said Paul DeLoach, the group's director. "It would be the Deal-Westmoreland Ditch. And we can't let that happen."
This time, drought conditions may have made the fight even tougher for environmentalists. Atlanta's main water supply, Lake Lanier, is at record low levels and there's no end in sight to the 18-year-old legal battle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over how much water can be stored in north Georgia lakes.
Georgia's congressmen and both U.S. senators supported damming the river in the 1970s, and delegations from the region came calling, hopeful the construction would create jobs, boost real estate values and create much-needed recreation. The opposition, Mr. Carter said to laughs at the fish fry, was "just a bunch of weirdo environmentalists."
But Mr. Carter soon grew concerned that the Corps was underestimating the dams' cost and exaggerating their potential to generate power. He vetoed the project in 1974 and fought off attempts by the state Legislature to skirt his decision.
The plan stayed on the shelf until recently. Mr. Deal, who represents a north Georgia district, has said he's drafting legislation to establish the dams, and Ms. Westmoreland is pushing for more studies of the river.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
The old bucktoothed, peanut brain is at it again!! Time for that eunich to go back to the depot in Plains and rock away until ol grim pays him a visit!
I wonder if this reporter actually interviewed "Ms" Westmoreland, who looks very much like a man to me.
IT is truly sad that while Nancy protected Ron when his mind went Roslyn is using Jimmy as a mouthpiece for her sick power plugs. Anyone who has seen him recently can tell you he is mentally out of it (even if you didn't experience his four pathetic failed years as President) Jimuh needs to go away.
Jimmy did such a horrible job as president, he's spent the last 28 years trying to repair the damage for the history books. Remember the rampant inflation, gas lines, and hostages. We lost more face under his leadership than ever in history. And 50 years ago he would have been tried for treason for what he's done negotiating with the enemy. What a dodo.
When will people get it? We just can't afford useless pork projects anymore. Look who the dam proponents are; developers, real estate agents etc. Atlanta needs to learn to conserve, and the State of GA needs to learn to just say no to the various expensive addictions of that city. For once I agree with Jimmy Carter, more dams would be a total waste of resources that should be spent elsewhere on things such as CONSERVATION.
i agree paul,if greedy developers and real estate brokers are involved in it its a sure bet they dont want it for the good of the masses but for the pocketbooks of the few.and as far as carter being the worse president in history,i think ol gw has taken that title from him.at least jimmy has done something with his life after the white house instead of sitting on his duff or on the golf course every day.how many ex pres have picked up a hammer and helped biuld houses for the poor,plus the fact that hes been on call for every administration since he left office.