Fresh from his visit with White House officials and the governors of Alabama and Florida, Governor Perdue sounds very much like a winner in the on-going fight over water. A proposed agreement, still to be approved by federal officials, allows Georgia to keep any future rain water going into Lake Lanier.
"I believe that these announcements ... will be the beginning of the help that we need. Obviously rain is the ultimate long term solution. But now the very fact that we can store the rain that we get makes it reasonable for us to conserve and do our part."
Perdue did thank the governors of Alabama and Florida for their willingness to meet and attempt a compromise. The three will meet again in mid-December, as the US Army Corps of Engineers finalizes the agreement governing water flowing downstate.
Reservoirs not enough
Perdue endorsed a plan to build reservoirs statewide and called for regional water bureaus to monitor water at the local level. The reservoir construction plan has backing from Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
The Governor says if Georgia controlled more its own reservoirs, things wouldn't be so bad.
"It was the management of those Corps of Engineer reservoirs, or the mismanagement, that really exacerbated the drought that we’re in."
The Georgia Water Council and some environmental groups warned that Georgia should not plan for reservoirs until lawmakers pass a statewide water plan.
