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ATLANTA — Georgia faces the dire prospect of losing metropolitan Atlanta's main water source if political leaders can't broker a solution with Alabama and Florida over rights to a major reservoir within three years.

That doomsday scenario would cut off water for more than three million residents, driving a stake through the heart of Atlanta's decades of rampant growth and threatening one of the Southeast's main economic engines amid a sour economy.

Experts say they doubt a recent federal court ruling will shut the taps off, but it does put Georgia in a weak position and could finally push the three states back to the negotiating table after nearly two decades of stalemate.

After all, said Atlanta Regional Commission Chairman Sam Olens, "FEMA isn't going to provide enough trucks to have drinking water for 4.5 million residents" in the Atlanta region.

Georgia could be forced to make significant concessions to Florida and Alabama that it so far has been unwilling to adopt.

The costly measures could include spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new water infrastructure, establishing tighter water restrictions during droughts and offering homeowners and businesses rebates to install more efficient toilets, dishwashers and washing machines.

"It's the worst possible decision, that's for sure," said Michael Andel, chief of staff to Democratic U.S. Rep. David Scott of Atlanta, echoing comments from other Georgia officials.

Friday's ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson found that nearly all Georgia's withdrawals from Lake Lanier are illegal because the lake wasn't built for water supply.

Magnuson acknowledged the decision was "draconian" but said he had to recognize how far the lake's operation had strayed from the law.

The governors of Alabama and Florida celebrated the ruling, while Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue vowed to fight, saying he would appeal the decision while at the same time working for a favorable outcome in Washington.

Both of those approaches could prove difficult. A federal appeals court in Washington already ruled against Georgia in a related case last year, and Georgia lawmakers would face an enormous challenge to overcome resistance in Congress from their Florida and Alabama colleagues.

Georgia's congressional delegation scheduled an emergency meeting for Tuesday afternoon. But they were looking to Perdue for guidance, and leaders in all the states said any compromise would require significant leadership at the state level.

"I think the governors all felt they were likely to be victorious. I kept telling them that if you don't settle it, somebody's going to win and somebody's going to lose," said U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. The clear victory for Alabama and Florida "strengthens our hand in a number of ways," he said.

"I don't see Congress resolving this," said U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, a Democrat who represents parts of the Florida Panhandle downstream from Georgia. "I think it's important that the governors come to grips with this and get it resolved."

The three states have dueled like thirsty children fighting for a swig from a water fountain since 1990. And despite summits, lawsuits and a long-running legal battle, the states have yet to resolve the regional tug-of-war over water rights.

Georgia, which just emerged from an epic drought, contends the issue is about the survival of its biggest metropolitan area. Lake Lanier and other north Georgia federal reservoirs help supply the fast-growing Atlanta region — about half the state's population — with drinking water.

But Florida and Alabama depend on healthy river flow downstream for commercial fisheries, farms, industrial users and municipalities. The Army Corps of Engineers also is required to release adequate water to ensure habitats for species protected by the Endangered Species Act.

The two states challenged Georgia's use of the water, saying their neighbor was abusing a lake that was initially built for hydropower — not providing water.

Magnuson agreed, concluding water need was only an incidental purpose for the lake. He ordered the lake's water usage to be kept at current levels for three years.

If an agreement isn't reached by then, he said the lake's operations would return to the 1970s level — when Atlanta was only a fraction of its current size.

Perdue, a Republican whose term ends in 2011, will face increasing pressure to forge a deal before his successor takes office.

"The three governors ought to come together quickly ASAP to discuss the decision and craft a joint resolution," said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, a leading Atlanta Democrat. "Or else the hammer is coming down on us."

Florida and Alabama may also be more inclined to negotiate with Georgia rather than risk an unfavorable outcome in Congress or by the courts on a possible appeal — particularly if Georgia is willing to hand over long-sought concessions.

"The fact of the matter is we can do more with water conservation that would be appealing to the governors of Alabama and Florida," Olens said.

"This conflict should have been resolved long ago," said Daniel Sheer, founder of HydroLogics, a national water planning consulting company that has worked with Atlanta municipalities. "There really is quite enough water to do everything you need to do."

But, he said, "There is an enormous amount of bad will and an enormous amount of political posturing going on, politicians getting elected by exploiting the conflict ... particularly among the governors."

Environmental groups hope the judge's ruling sounded the alarm about the importance of conservation efforts.

"It's a definite signal to Atlanta to examine the way it's been growing the past 30 years and whether that's keeping with the water resources," said Gil Rogers of the Southern Environmental Law Center. "I think this ruling is a signal we can't afford that kind of attitude anymore."

A draft report suggests conservation is the best way to help meet the future water needs of the rapidly growing Travis County area.

Public comment on the review done for the Lower Colorado River Authority will be sought in the fall. The Austin American-Statesman reported Tuesday on the Draft Water Supply Resource Plan.

The document found, even with rapid population growth and industrial expansion, demand for LCRA water is not expected to outstrip the utility's supplies until 2080.

Jennifer Walker, a water resources specialist for the Sierra Club, served on an LCRA water conservation task force. She says the value of looking far into the future "all depends on how you plan on using that water supply."

City and county departments are offering up a variety of advice for residents concerning the heat wave currently taking place.

The City of Porterville Water Utilities Division announced that it is important to consider water conservation as the temperature climbs.

“With the heat the way it is, we would ask people to help conserve water so there will be plenty for everyone to use,” Water Utilities Superintendent Richard Mulvihill said.

Mulvihill cited sprinklers as the biggest possible water wasters.

“Ways to conserve [water] include running full loads in washing machines and fixing leaky faucets or toilets,” he said.

The Tulare County Office of Emergency Services is asking people to ensure personal safety by staying cool by following some “extreme heat” tips:

-- Drink lots of fluids to maintain hydration.

-- Dress in loose, light-weight clothing.

OES officials, through a news release issued Monday, said those with chronic health conditions, especially, are vulnerable to the rising temperatures because certain medications are known to inhibit the body’s ability to control temperature.

The heat also worsens the quality of the air, which can aggravate any respiratory symptoms that are already present, OES officials report.

Ramona Contreras, Sierra View District Hospital’s marketing director, said people should try to avoid the hottest time of day.

“When venturing out into the heat, try and stay in the shade as much as possible,” she said.

Contreras said the hospital had no heat-related emergencies as of Monday afternoon.

The City of Porterville has established a series of cooling centers, which are available Monday through Friday during regular business hours for the rest of the summer: City Hall, the Public Transit Center, the Porterville Public Li­brary, and the Porterville Heritage Community Center.

Matt is making some big strides to provide clean water and sanitation to communities in developing countries. Damon’s non-profit H2O Africa has joined forces with the Kansas City-based WaterPartners to become Water.org and will continue to work hard to solve the water problems in Africa

Water.org co-founders Gary White and Matt Damon discuss the water crisis with Mrs. T. Nanda Vardhan, secretary with Water.org's local partner SIDUR, in a slum of Hyderabad, India.

Matt Damon, H2O Africa co-founder, and Gary White, WaterPartners executive director and co-founder, have joined forces to co-found a new organization – Water.org – a non-profit focused on bringing access to safe water and sanitation to the developing world. Water.org will leverage grassroots awareness-building expertise and nearly two decades of demonstrated innovation and success in the sector to help the nearly 890 million people without safe water and the more than 2.5 billion people without safe sanitation. Matt Damon, a long-time advocate for safe water issues, explains the importance of launching Water.org. “Every 15 seconds, a child in the developing world dies from water-related disease. After visiting project sites in Africa and Asia with Gary, I’ve seen the problem and the impact of safe water.” Damon said, “As a clear leader in the sector at delivering innovative and sustainable solutions for those in need, WaterPartners was the natural choice with whom to work to truly affect lasting change.”

NATCHEZ — Without much more than a bunch of 50-gallon drums and brass spigots, Adams County residents were learning the art of water conservation Saturday morning.

Approximately 40 city and county residents gathered at Stine Lumber for a demonstration on how to turn the simple white drums into rain-collectors.

Once filled, the rainwater captured in the barrels can be used to water gardens and cut back on water bills, event organizer, Stine Lumber employee and Adams County Green Alliance member, Steve McNerney said.

“People can feel good about recycling rainwater and save money on watering,” McNerney said.

Aside from the recycling and money saving aspects the rain barrels generate, there’s also an environmental benefit.

“This keeps at least some of the water from washing through the street collecting pollutants and then heading into our water system,” he said. “It’s not a lot, but it helps.”

And the actual construction of the barrels is something virtually anyone can do, said Adams County Extension Service Director David who was at Saturday’s event.

Not including the time it took to drill the necessary holes for rainwater collection, the spigot and a runoff valve, it took Carter moments to assemble the barrel.

Once assembled the barrel, with a three-inch screened hole in the top, is placed under a gutter or corner of a house where rain falls uncollected.

Once filled the water is utilized with a spigot that can be connected to a hose.

“It’s not rocket science,” Carter said to the audience as he fixed the spigot to the bottom of the barrel.

Photo by Hannah Reel

Participants assemble their rain barrels.

Carter said while rain barrels can be purchased for around $150, one can be made at home for approximately $30.

“And if you rummage around the house for the stuff you need, it could probably be done for $15,” Carter said.

And it doesn’t take a deluge to fill the barrel either.

Carter said one tenth of an inch of rain will fill the barrel if it’s properly placed.

“In a year’s time you could fill 100 of these barrels. And that’s money you’re not spending on water,” he said.

And for serious gardeners like Kelly Parks, a master gardener, the investment in time to make the barrel is time well spent.

Parks estimated that the two barrels she picked-up Saturday, and a few more at her house, would cut back on the water she buys in the coming year by 1,200 gallons.

“I do a lot of watering,” Parks said. “For me, this makes a lot of sense.”

Saturday’s event was sponsored by Stine Lumber Company and Brown Bottling Company, which provided the barrels.

For a $20 donation to the Keep Natchez-Adams Beautiful Association, participants in the demonstration were able to take their newly assembled barrels home.

Why should anyone care if California salmon, or local fishermen, go the way of the dodo? Can’t we just buy fish from Alaska? And what’s wrong with the farmed stuff, anyway? Because of economic suffering in the Central Valley, some are calling for an end to environmental protections for California’s once-mighty salmon runs.

At the center of the salmon debate is the fate of the Bay-Delta Estuary, the West Coast’s largest and most important estuary. Estuaries are the interconnection between land, rivers and ocean, providing spawning and nursery habitat for commercial and recreational fisheries as well as birds, waterfowl and wildlife. Losing that diversity, turning rivers into canals that no longer support life, risks turning our estuary into a degraded system with more invasive and pest species while local fish, birds, invertebrates and wildlife die off.

Wild salmon is valuable as a harvestable, healthy and tasty food commodity loaded with omega-3 fatty acids. But the health and viability of local salmon has everything to do with the health and viability of the aquatic ecosystem that surrounds us. As biologists will attest, if you want to measure the health of aquatic ecosystems, you need to measure fish.
As salmon begin to go extinct, it sets off a chain reaction in the natural community and a chain reaction for people impacted by loss of revenue from salmon and sport fishing, farming and tourism in the bay delta. It also has major implications for the costs and quality of California’s water supply.

As we ignore these warning signs and call for more water and less fish, we miss an important opportunity to prepare for a smarter water future. We have water in California, but an ancient system of rights and distribution leads to some farmers paying higher prices for limited supplies, while others receive full allocations at relatively low rates. Some urban areas use 100 gallons per person per day, while others use more than 300.

We have tremendous potential to grow “new” water supplies with recycling and conservation. Innovators like PureSense are helping growers realize more profit per acre through the efficient use of water. Hydropoint is helping eBay, Lockheed Martin, Cisco, Amazon and Advanced Micro Devices use less water in landscaping. There are reasonable answers to these conflicts if we avoid getting trapped in rhetorical divides.

We could pump water out of this estuary indiscriminately as some are calling for, but at some point, California would still bump up against limitations in the amount of water in its system, the rising costs of extracting and moving it, and increasing droughts from climate change.

We could, in other words, destroy what is left of the most important estuary on the West Coast and still not solve the economic problems facing much of the Central Valley. Sooner or later California is going to have to change how it uses water. We can do it before we lose our salmon, or after.

Thirty-seven Coachella Valley restaurants are trying to battle California's drought, one glass at a time. At the request of the Coachella Valley Water District, the restaurants are serving water only when customers request it.

“With this program, CVWD is working with local businesses to raise awareness of the regional water crisis,” said Abby Figueroa, CVWD public information associate.

Sherman's Deli & Bakery in Palm Desert was the first to sign up for the program. The restaurant has been providing water on a by-request basis since November.

General manager Gordon Poster said customers have been supportive of the conservation efforts, which have helped the restaurant save about 125 gallons of water a day.

That's roughly the amount the average person uses over the course of a day, Figueroa said.

For each glass of water served, four glasses of water are needed to wash the cup, according to an Arizona-based water conservation group — Water Use It Wisely — the organization that initiated the water-by-request program for restaurants, Figueroa said.

“Every drop counts and small conservation actions do add up to big savings over time,” she said.

Desert Water Agency supports CVWD's efforts to encourage water conservation efforts in the agency's service area.

“They started the program, and it's working well,” agency spokeswoman Katie Ruark said.

Mission Springs Water Agency, which services Desert Hot Springs, concentrates its water conservation efforts on outdoor landscaping rather than having a commercial focus, said Marilyn McKay, administrative officer for Mission Springs Water District

But savings is savings, she said, and any and every effort to conserve will have to be embraced by water providers.

“To be effective in conservation, water districts are now looking at a portfolio of water conservation programs,” McKay said.

SONOMA COUNTY, CA (KGO) -- The Sonoma County Water Agency put out an urgent call on Wednesday, for "immediate conservation."

Because the agency's pumping stations, along the Russian River, are down they're only able to supply 53 million gallons of water a day.

However, customers have been using 60 million gallons a day since Monday, when temperatures began to climb.

Storage tanks are being drained by the spike in demand, and Lake Mendocino, the agency's main source of water, is down to 64 percent of capacity.

They're asking people in Santa Rosa, Windsor, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma, Sonoma, Valley of The Moon, and northern Marin County to cut back.