Green Daily

A really interesting story in the New York Times discusses how s-l-o-w the South has been to take action towards conservation -- especially given its nearly five-month drought.

The signs are alarming: everything from beaches transforming into orange mud flats to tree stumps reappearing after a half-century underground.

So, in the face of this drought, what have Georgia residents been doing? According to the Times, "All summer, more than a year after the drought began, fountains sprayed and football fields were watered, prisoners got two showers a day and Coca-Cola's bottling plants chugged along at full strength. On an 81-degree day this month, an outdoor theme park began to manufacture what was intended to be a 1.2-million-gallon mountain of snow."

Hearing all of this, are you surprised that between 1990 and 2000 water use in Georgia rose 30%?

Despite the "ultra-slow motion" response, it does seem as if at last there's some real acknowledgment of the need to respond to the problem. Governor Sonny Perdue announced that October would be "shorter shower" month. But although Mr. Perdue declared a state of emergency for more than half the state and asked for federal assistance, the state has not yet restricted indoor water use or cut back on major commercial and industrial users.

Maybe it's going to take more than shorter showers to remedy what ails them. A friend of mine just moved there and could not believe how hot and dry it's been.