Just when I thought I'd heard it all, the water company announced we'll have to pay more for something we're lacking in the first place. I agree with another reader who said this sounds like the price of oil.

We're buying bottled water to the tune of $44 a month or more, using our water saver washing machine, taking shorter showers, flushing the toilet less, using water-saver shower heads, letting the grass go brown all summer and we didn't even wash the house this year. Now, for all our trouble, we get to pay more for water because of the reckless acts of our Corps of Engineers and the drought we had nothing to do with.

Doesn't anyone remember when the Corps "accidentally" dumped too much water out of Lake Lanier, causing the lake to drop to record low levels a couple of years ago? I do. Now, we're expected to feel sorry for some mussels down south that may die off for lack of water supply. Aww, what a shame.

Will the water company reimburse me for the bottled water when the lake refills? How about all the perennial flowers I lost to the drought? Commercial properties all over Georgia didn't suffer from lack of water. Let's put the extra charges where they belong: on the powers that be.

And if I'm going to pay more for my water, I want it cleaner, and I don't want to be told time after time that my water is brown due to a malfunction at the water treatment plant that put too much manganese in the water. I was actually told not to worry, but in fact, manganese can cause illness and even death, especially to our pets. I was sick for three years until I started drinking bottled water. Don't try to tell me that's not water related. I'm not going to take the money I'm saving on medical bills and start sending it to the water company.

Clean it up, and stop burdening the public with poor management issues!

Deborah Russell
Gainesville

Dawsonville Highway work worth the trouble
The widening of Dawsonville Highway has been a long and complicated job, but I must commend the construction workers for causing a minimum of inconvenience. The DOT had to relocate the entrance to our subdivision, and one dark morning at 6, I heard them out there working to give us access. Hopefully, when this is finished, it will alleviate the long lines of traffic on Ga. 53.

Brenda Layne
Gainesville