Thirsting for Answers

Published: Thursday, December 20, 2007 11:43 AM PST

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USA Today this week examined the differences in water conservation steps taken in San Diego and Atlanta. Both cities have water supply issues. But San Diego, the paper says, has made water conservation part of "the fabric of life." And Atlanta? Not so much.

USA Today says:

A key difference in the two approaches is the conservation ethic. San Diego, which averages about 10 inches of rain a year in a region where water conservation is part of the fabric of life, has one. Atlanta, which averages nearly 50 inches annually -- but not for the past two years -- does not.

San Diego long has been on the cutting edge of conservation. The city Water Department, for example, this month moved forward on a pilot project in which treated sewage would be purified and used to boost water supplies.

That kind of innovative action has not been seen in north Georgia, where the main water source, Lake Lanier, now looks more like a lunar landscape than a sparkling reservoir where water-skiers once pooled and the region is on track for its driest season on record.

-- ROB DAVIS