Water fights: Not just for the Southwest anymore
October 31, 2007

The Secretary of the Interior is stepping in to mediate a dispute involving Georgia, Florida, and Alabama over a critical shortage of water in that part of the country. That, of course, seems bizarre, given the states' immediate access to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, but it's a glaring signal that water-resource disputes are going to become more common in the coming years, even in places that have always considered themselves water-rich. We are continuing to increase our understanding of water-recycling options in additional to conventional water and wastewater treatment, because it is becoming evident that such measures may become necessary across much of the country before too long.





last revised October 2007