State parks could close

As many as 13 state parks could close or shorten hours because of Georgia's tough economy. The state Department of Natural Resources won't release the parks and historic sites under consideration for closing. The DNR will withdraw workers from all federally owned wildlife management areas in north Georgia, including those in the Chattahoochee and Oconee national forests. Next summer, no swimming pools in state parks will open.

State could help drought-stricken counties draw water

Four north Georgia counties could get some help with their water supply. The state Environmental Protection Division is expected to allow Clarke, Oconee, Barrow and Jackson counties to draw up to 15 million gallons of water a day from the Middle Oconee River. The counties are already under total outdoor water bans. Melvin Davis, who chairs the counties’ water authority, says if the state doesn’t step in things could get worse. Davis says inaction " would devastate the region economically. So that’s one worst case scenario. The other is that the public wouldn’t have enough water to do the essentials [like] cooking, bathing, and drinking." Davis says the counties’ water ban will not change regardless of the EPD’s decision.