Updated with video; Experts say water level in Flint River could rise slightly
ALBANY, GA -- The heavy rainfall this weekend will have some effect on the drought, but not enough to make a significant difference, officials said.
“A day or a day and a half is really not going to have that impact; we're so grateful that it did rain it certainly cleaned everybody's yard up, but we need a lot more rain to raise those water tables,” said Lorie Farkas, assistant general manager at the Water, Gas and Light Commission.
“We would expect to see over the next couple of days the levels in the flint itself and also the tributaries – which is pretty important – to go up,” said Mark Masters of the Flint River Water Policy and Planning Center.
The problem with sporadic rainfall is that rain water takes several years to get into the drinking supply.
“The water that you're drinking when you turn on your faucet is thirty to forty years old which means that from when it falls to earth as rain and percolates down through the earth down through our limestone and comes up to our tap takes between thirty and forty years,” Farkas said.
While heavy rainfall is not in the immediate forecast, scattered showers are possible the rest of the week.
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