A truce has been declared in the water war among several Southeastern states, but the drought that caused it all remains.

Meeting with federal officials last week, the governors of Alabama, Florida and Georgia proposed a settlement that would keep water flowing from Georgia into Alabama reservoirs while also helping other states meet their demands.

The extreme drought conditions in Georgia and other nearby states has jeopardized the long-standing agreement among states about how the region's water supply would flow. Georgia officials, for example, wanted to keep all of the water at home to ease the drought-related problems for their residents, particularly in the Atlanta area, by blocking the flow into Alabama and Florida.

Gov. Bob Riley said the agreement reached last week is good for Alabama.

Riley joined counterparts Sonny Perdue, of Georgia, and Charlie Crist, of Florida, at a Washington meeting brokered by President Bush to announce a temporary agreement. The agreement, which must be made permanent by Feb. 15, could end a lawsuit filed in 1990 by Alabama over the amount of water released by the Army Corps of Engineers into Alabama and Florida.

Riley said the Corps of Engineers has allowed Cobb County and Marietta, which is north of Atlanta, to take twice the water they were allocated from Lake Allatoona. The action reduced the amount available for the Coosa River, which flows through Gadsden and joins the Tallapoosa River near Montgomery, where it becomes the Alabama River.

"It is simply indefensible that the corps has allowed those illegal withdrawals by (Cobb's water authority) to continue with impunity, while at the same time the corps now seeks to reduce the required releases that benefit Alabama," Riley wrote the Corps of Engineers.

The temporary agreement has eased tensions, but one major problem remains.

More rain needed

The lawsuit and the water war flowed along until this year when the worst drought in history got everyone's attention. Most say the biggest remedy for the problem is more rain.

In some places in Alabama, the rain deficit is more than two feet off the normal annual amount. That's almost half a normal year's worth of rain.

The drought is expected to continue into 2008.

The combination of drought and the lack of conservation have dropped some lake and stream levels close to drinking water intake pipes. It also has dried up water tourism dollars, threatened nuclear power plant cooling water, caused farmers to liquidate cattle herds and plow under crops, and has governors seeking divine intervention.

"I'm going to go back and pray for rain," Georgia's Perdue said after last week's meeting.

The most talked-about drought area in Alabama is along the Alabama-Georgia border. North Alabama, however - where plenty of water seemingly exists in the Tennessee River - isn't immune from the dearth of rainfall in Tennessee and North Carolina, where bubbling brooks and branches form creeks and streams that fill the great river.

"That river flow is down drastically and that affects our water availability, and it affects the treatment," said Mike Doyle, manager of Florence Water Works.

He said the surface of Cypress Creek, one of two sources of water for the city on the north side of the Tennessee River, is close to the intake pipe that draws about 50 percent of the city's water needs. Further drops in water levels or lack of rainfall could cause alternate production plans.

Alexander City, which gets water from Lake Martin, barged emergency pumps to a deeper section of the lake just to draw the vital liquid.

In western Alabama, where the drought is just as severe, Tuscaloosa's water plant has three intake pipes staggered under the surface of Lake Tuscaloosa.

Tourism Hurting

Weiss Lake in northeast Alabama on the Georgia state line may be the crappie fishing capital of the world, but the shallow lake is also important as the source of drinking water.

"They bought a pump to move further into Weiss Lake off the Coosa River," said Phil Powell, the mayor of Centre, which gets its water and tourism livelihood from Weiss Lake.

Cherokee County's economy is particularly dependent on water. Home sales, tackle stores, boat marinas, repair shops and restaurants all depend on water tourism. This year has been a bust for the community, and if there isn't any rain, 2008 will be, too.

"It's the worst I've ever seen in 20 years," said Carolyn Landrem, president of the Weiss Lake Improvement Association. "We're probably not going to have any crappie fishermen here."

The drought conditions have not stopped top-notch, national fishing tournaments in the Shoals, which is known as the smallmouth bass capital of the world. Tourism officials say a problem could develop during the next few months without significant rainfall.

Environment suffers

Drought also means that the normal amount of pollution in a river is contained in a smaller volume of water, requiring more treatment.

"Our problem has never been quantity, it's been quality," said Jack Rutledge, general manager of the Gadsden Water Works. "It has cost us more this summer to treat it."

Fish, plants and water species are stressed because oxygen-depleting nutrients are more concentrated.

"We're starting to realize that water is a finite resource," said Cindy Lowry, executive director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance, a citizen conservation and environmental group. "The way we have altered our natural system over the years makes it more important for us, as humans, to look at the source of water, how we use it and protect it for future supplies."

Fifty-three of Alabama's 67 counties have been declared drought emergency areas this year, signaling the need to conserve.

Except for local conservation efforts, such as in Birmingham, there's no uniformity among cities and counties or even states that share common watersheds.

Phenix City in Alabama and Columbus, Ga., share the Chattahoochee River that divides them. That source of water is affected by the river's dwindling flow, which comes down from the valleys of Hall and hills of Habersham counties in north Georgia.

But while Columbus has mandated water restrictions, there are no restrictions in Phenix City. Its water plant is underutilized since area textile industries closed.

Greg Glass, Phenix City's director of utilities, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that water consumption is down 5 million gallons a day from the loss of textile plants.

Gadsden is in the same boat. Its system capacity of about 19 million gallons per day isn't stretched because of the pullout of Gulf States Steel years ago. Now the system keeps about 13 million gallons per day on hand, Rutledge said.

In Centre, which draws from Weiss Lake and is at the center of the Alabama-Georgia water war, there's no mandate to conserve water.

"They are requesting people not to water yards and wash cars if they don't have to. Other than that, it's OK right now," Powell said. "But we're certainly worried about future rain predictions."

Weiss Lake has been at the mercy of reduced water flow from Georgia's Lake Allatoona, which feeds the Coosa.

Riley criticized the Army Corps of Engineers for not releasing enough water from Lake Lanier, northeast of Atlanta, and Lake Allatoona for Alabama's downstream navigation, drinking, paper mill and nuclear power plant needs.

"I am deeply concerned about the potential impact of this drought on Alabama's economy," Riley wrote President Bush last week.

The three governors met with congressional delegations before meeting with cabinet officials and the Corps of Engineers last week.

U.S. Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, both Alabama Republicans, sided with Riley.

"The water in Lake Lanier is not Georgia's water," Sessions and Shelby wrote Bush. "These are federal lakes and the water should be allowed to fairly flow all along the river."

Sessions proposes an amendment that's been approved by the Senate Committee on Agriculture to help agribusiness build ponds and irrigation systems with federal grants of $100 million a year.

Fayette County Probate Judge William Oswalt said he hopes there is money available for a drinking water lake that he's been trying to get for two decades.

"This drought is conclusive evidence of what we've been saying all along: that it's a worthy project that deserves to be completed," Oswalt said. "The dilemma with the lake is funding. We have about half enough money."

Oswalt said the county has about $9 million in federal grants and appropriations for the lake. "The essence of it is it's not just a Fayette reservoir, it's a northwest Alabama reservoir," he said.

While more lakes may be the answer, conservation measures are being proposed.

Perdue angered Riley two weeks ago when he said Alabama hasn't done enough to react to the drought. Riley countered by saying that Birmingham had adopted drought measures to conserve water.

Perdue merely had been repeating what the state's water people have been saying for two decades: Why should Georgia consider Alabama's needs when Alabama itself doesn't have a statewide water plan?

Alabama has a water resources plan, not a water management plan. The water resources plan has been in final draft form since 2004.

"Essentially, that's the process we're working under right now," said Tom Littlepage, chief of the water management branch of the Alabama Office of Water Resources. "This is not an action plan that mandates restrictions."

While Alabama, Georgia and Florida wrangled over regional water issues, north Alabama legislators sealed off the Tennessee River as a source of water for in-state and out-of-state uses until there's a statewide water plan.

"The biggest push right now is Alabama doesn't have a comprehensive water policy," said Lowry, with the Alabama Rivers Alliance. "Long term, we need to have a policy."

Dashing the hopes of Fayette County and Georgia's desire for more lakes, Lowry said conservationists don't want more lakes because they degrade existing habitats.

"No, we do not support impoundments as an answer and solution to our water woes," she said. "The lowest hanging fruit that is the easiest thing to do is water conservation. Each person has to take it upon himself to do much as possible."

More need water

Finally, there's the issue of agriculture, which has been devastated by lack of rainfall. Earlier this year it was common to see dried fields of corn plowed. Ranchers have been selling off their cattle because they can't feed them this winter because of the lack of hay.

"The last two years were horrible, and supplemental feed is expensive," said Wayne Ford, county coordinator for the Tuscaloosa County extension office. "A lot of farmers were into corn but the large corn contracts are going to biofuels."

Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks estimates that farmers have lost $60 million to $70 million in row crop income. "We've also lost 70 percent of our pasture and hay land, and we've sold over 100,000 brood cows," he said.

Farmers sold some of those calves at 200 pounds less than their normal market weight because of the drought and expense of feeding them.

In addition, "those 20 days of triple-digit temperatures took a big chunk out of pasture land," he said.

Sparks urged farmers with pasture losses to contact their county crop insurance agent and inquire about insurance. Farmers must sign up by Nov. 30, he said.

Preston "Mann" Minus, of Livingston, is a cattle farmer in Greene, Sumter and Washington counties. He was fortunate to have some irrigation to water his cattle, but he still sold 200 head this year because it is too expensive to feed them hay this winter.

"Last year, we had early rain but didn't have late rain, and this year there's really no early rain, no spring," Minus said of prime hay growing seasons.

He said he bought nearly $25,000 worth of hay in 2006 but isn't willing to shell out a like amount this winter.

"What we need for sure is just more rain," Minus said. "I guess the Lord is going to let it rain when it's going to rain."

Dana Beyerle can be reached at (334) 264-6605 or dtb123@aol.com.