一場持續(xù)了30年之久的水資源糾紛將提交至最高法院

一場持續(xù)了30年之久的水資源糾紛將提交至最高法院

For three decades, Georgia and Florida have been battling over how to share a precious resource: water. Georgia has it, and Florida, which is downstream, says it's not getting its fair share. The dispute is once again headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Florida wants the justices to cap Georgia's water use. But a court-appointed special master recently rejected that idea.

三十年來，佐治亞州和佛羅里達(dá)州一直在爭奪一種寶貴的資源:水。喬治亞州和下游的佛羅里達(dá)州表示，他們沒有得到應(yīng)有的份額。爭議再次被提交到美國最高法院，佛羅里達(dá)州希望法官們限制喬治亞州的用水。但一位法院指定的特別法官最近拒絕了這個想法。

More than 6 million people depend on water that starts at Lake Lanier, a reservoir northeast of Atlanta. It generates hydropower as its water is released from a dam into the Chattahoochee River.

超過600萬人依靠拉尼爾湖的水生活，拉尼爾湖是亞特蘭大東北部的一個水庫。當(dāng)它的水從大壩釋放到查塔胡奇河時，它就開始發(fā)電。

"We generate power based on a peak demand," says powerhouse manager Cecil Quinley, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

美國陸軍工程兵團發(fā)電廠經(jīng)理塞西爾·昆利說:“我們是根據(jù)最高需求來發(fā)電的。”

It's a big lake, covering some 60 square miles, but it fills slowly. In times of plenty, there's enough water to serve the needs of metro Atlanta plus communities, industry and farming in southern Georgia, eastern Alabama and a section of Florida's panhandle.

這是一個大湖，占地約60平方英里，但它填得很慢。在豐水期，有足夠的水來滿足亞特蘭大市區(qū)以及喬治亞州南部、阿拉巴馬州東部和佛羅里達(dá)州狹長地帶的社區(qū)、工業(yè)和農(nóng)業(yè)的需要。

The problems arise when there's a drought.

當(dāng)出現(xiàn)干旱時，問題就出現(xiàn)了。

"A one-year drought doesn't cause particular complications, but a three-year drought does," says Katherine Zitsch, with the Atlanta Regional Commission.

亞特蘭大地區(qū)委員會的凱瑟琳·齊奇說：“一年的干旱不會造成特別的麻煩，但三年的干旱會造成特別的麻煩。”

A drought from 2006 to 2008 led then-Gov. Sonny Perdue to hold a prayer meeting for rain. It also gave urgency to efforts by Florida and Alabama to fight for their share of a scarce resource that's becoming even more unpredictable as the climate warms.

2006年至2008年的干旱導(dǎo)致當(dāng)時的政府停擺。桑尼·珀杜要為下雨舉行祈禱會。這也讓佛羅里達(dá)州和阿拉巴馬州為爭奪稀缺資源而做出的努力變得更加緊迫。隨著氣候變暖，這種資源變得更加難以預(yù)測。

After two decades of talks and lawsuits, Florida finally went to the Supreme Court in 2013. asking it to limit how much water Georgia could use.

經(jīng)過20年的談判和訴訟，佛羅里達(dá)終于在2013年向最高法院提出訴訟，要求限制喬治亞州的用水量。

Zitsch says Georgia has done a lot to limit its use. "It's high-efficiency toilets," she says. "It's conservation pricing, where the more water you use, the more you pay." It has worked so well that despite growing by 1.5 million people since 2000. metro Atlanta uses 10% less water.

齊奇說，佐治亞州已經(jīng)做了很多事情來限制它的使用。“這是高效廁所，”她說。“這是一種節(jié)約定價，用水越多，支付的費用就越高。”盡管自2000年以來增加了150萬人，亞特蘭大地鐵的用水量還是減少了10%。

Zitsch say the next step is to update water treatment plants so communities can reclaim water that was being lost. Gwinnett County has spent nearly a billion dollars building a plant that now gets wastewater clean enough so that it can be returned to the lake.

齊奇說，下一步是更新水處理廠，這樣社區(qū)就可以回收失去的水。格溫內(nèi)特縣已經(jīng)花費了近10億美元建造了一座工廠，現(xiàn)在可以將污水凈化到足夠干凈，這樣它就可以回到湖里。

The Flint River is also part of the lawsuit. It starts near Atlanta and meanders south to the border with Florida, passing through pine forests and providing water for small towns and lots of farmland.

弗林特河也是訴訟的一部分。它始于亞特蘭大附近，向南蜿蜒至與佛羅里達(dá)的邊界，穿過松林，為小城鎮(zhèn)和大量農(nóng)田提供水源。

"If you want to grow a reliable, dependable quality crop," says Christopher Worsham, "it takes water. And it takes a lot of it."

克里斯托弗·沃沙姆說：“如果你想種植質(zhì)量可靠、質(zhì)量可靠的作物，這需要水，而且需要大量的水。”

Worsham's great-grandfather used mules to raise row crops here in Camilla, 50 miles north of the border with Florida. Now the family-run business, Worsham Farms, has a cavernous warehouse where pecans are sorted and bagged. Most will be shipped to China, a big market for premium Georgia pecans. Worsham also raises peanuts and corn, and they all require irrigation.

沃沙姆的曾祖父在距佛羅里達(dá)州邊境以北50英里的卡米拉用騾子種植行作物?，F(xiàn)在，家族經(jīng)營的企業(yè)沃沙姆農(nóng)場有一個洞穴般的倉庫，山核桃在那里分類和袋裝。大部分將運往中國，中國是佐治亞州優(yōu)質(zhì)山核桃的一個大市場。沃沙姆還種植花生和玉米，它們都需要灌溉。

Because of the droughts and the lawsuits, Georgia had to take a hard look at the water it uses for farming. It has placed a moratorium on new wells for agriculture and is requiring all farmers to move to more efficient irrigation systems.

由于干旱和訴訟，佐治亞州不得不認(rèn)真考慮農(nóng)業(yè)用水。它已經(jīng)暫停了新的農(nóng)業(yè)水井，并要求所有農(nóng)民轉(zhuǎn)移到更高效的灌溉系統(tǒng)。

A short distance from the warehouse, pecan trees are lined up in rows. "This is actually where the water's coming from," says Worsham, as he bends down and points out a small black tube about the size of a straw. All his trees use this efficient drip irrigation.

在離倉庫不遠(yuǎn)的地方，山核桃樹排成一行。沃沙姆彎下腰，指著一根吸管大小的黑色小管子說：“水實際上就是從這里流出來的。”他所有的樹都使用這種高效的滴灌。

"Climate change is introducing the East to bigger and worse droughts, but also bigger and worse floods," Craig says. Figuring out how to share water given that extreme variability may be even more difficult than simply coping with a shortage.

克雷格說：“氣候變化給東部帶來了更大更嚴(yán)重的干旱，但也帶來了更大更嚴(yán)重的洪水。”考慮到極端的變化性，找出如何分享水資源可能比簡單地應(yīng)對水資源短缺更困難。