ATLANTA (AP)- A coalition of environmentalists and lawmakers
said Wednesday that the state's recently adopted water plan doesn't go
far enough to promote conservation.

Officials with the Georgia Water Coalition said that there are few actual conservation mandates in the plan, which sailed through the Legislature in its opening days and has already been signed by Governor Sonny Perdue.

The plan was adopted in response to an epic drought in Georgia that prompted state officials to restrict water use and spurred Perdue to hold a public prayer for rain.

The plan calls for three years of assessments to measure Georgia's water supply and demand. Perdue's proposed budget includes $11 million to pay for the tests. It also creates regional water councils to draft water plans for each area.

Environmentalists who gathered at a Capitol news conference
Wednesday said those council regions should be based on river basin
boundaries instead of political ones.

Politicians at the news conference complained that the plan creates "two Georgias,'' favoring the booming metro-Atlanta region
and leaving the rest of the state scrambling for scraps.

Senator Preston Smith of Rome questioned why officials moved so
quickly. He said he feared that a "mission accomplished'' banner
was raised in a haste to declare victory in face of the drought, while the plan misses meaningful reform.