Drought puts big hurt on horticulture

Last year Atlanta barely missed tying its driest year on record, which was 1954, when only 31.8 inches of rain fell. Four days of rain in late December brought the city’s rainfall total to 31.85 inches. Atlanta is at the center of an historic drought that has engulfed more than one-third of the Southeast.

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How much of an impact has the drought had? An online survey conducted by the Georgia Center for Urban Horticulture in late 2007 sought to assess the impact of the drought on members of Urban Agriculture Council. Responses came from a broad range of horticulture-related companies with the most submitted by landscape businesses.

Based on 168 survey responses, 848 employees have been laid off as a result of the drought. Respondents indicated an additional 708 could lose their jobs if the drought and the state’s water restrictions continue. University of Georgia researchers estimate there has been a loss of 35,000 jobs industry-wide with an additional 30,000 jobs in peril. Survey respondents indicate they are trying to protect their investments in worker training and are struggling to hold onto full-time, year-round employees.

Even more staggering is the loss of revenue during the drought. Based on the losses incurred by the companies that participated in the survey, university researchers estimate the loss for the 7,000 companies in the state’s urban ag industry to be more than $262 million for each month that the drought lasts and water restrictions are in effect. An annual loss of $3.15 billion is projected.

Relief may be only temporary

In December, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue announced that the citizens in 61 of the state’s drought-stricken counties had reduced their overall water consumption by more than 10 percent during November. The goal had been a reduction of 230 million gallonsc per day, but the affected counties were able to conserve 348 million gallons a day, enough water to supply 1.7 million Georgia households every day.

Perdue, along with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, met with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and state and federal officials in December to try to resolve the states’ nearly 20-year feud over sharing water. The governors agreed to continue negotiations with the hope of devising an equitable long-term plan for distributing the region’s water by mid-March.

Regardless of the outcome of these negotiations, citizens and businesses in all three states will be affected. University of Georgia researchers estimate the median income for horticulture companies in the state to be $800,000. They speculate that if the drought and water restrictions continue, many companies won’t be able to sustain the financial losses, resulting in further bankruptcies and business closings.

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For more: Ellen Bauske, Georgia Center for Urban Agriculture, (770) 233-5558; ebauske@uga.edu; http://apps.caes.uga.edu/urbanag.

- David Kuack