The Governors of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama came to Washington last year optimistic that a fair and far-reaching solution could be worked out to bring an end to this “water war.” I, too, was hopeful.

But things have only gotten more complicated since October. A hastily adopted water plan passed by the Georgia General Assembly, a desperate attempt to move the Georgia border with Tennessee up to the 35th parallel, secretive negotiations between the governors, a persistent, damaging drought, and pending litigation between the states all have stood in the way of progress. 

While drought-weary folks in the Atlanta metro worry that their water will run out before the federal government declares the region a disaster area and funnels in money and other help, farmers out in the country are already getting some relief from Uncle Sam.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared 24 Georgia counties agricultural disaster areas because of the drought, making many of the farmers in those counties eligible for low-interest loans to help them recover, Rep. Sanford Bishop, an Albany Democrats who represents many of those counties, said Thursday.

But be warned, city dwellers, rooftop gardens don’t make you eligible for drought relief.

State's U.S. congressmen urge law that would keep water in Lake Lanier

Washington — Georgia's entire congressional delegation introduced legislation Tuesday intended to relieve drought conditions in the Atlanta area.

Gov. Sonny Perdue and other state officials have been arguing with the Army Corps of Engineers over how much of the water in Lake Lanier should be pumped downriver to Florida and Alabama.

But the Corps insists it's only following federal law and continues to pump billions of gallons of water downriver to help preserve federally protected sturgeon and mussels.

(TUCKER, Ga.)—Representatives with electric membership corporations (EMCs) in Georgia traveled to Washington, D.C. on October 2 and 3 to inform Georgia lawmakers that, in the future, motorists could get 100 miles per gallon, due to the latest in fuel technology.

U.S. Reps. John Barrow, Sanford Bishop, Paul Broun, Nathan Deal, Jack Kingston, David Scott and Lynn Westmoreland previewed a Toyota Prius hybrid that has been converted into a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid. The technology was made possible through a research project by the EMCs of Georgia, and spearheaded by Jackson EMC, headquartered in Jefferson, Ga., and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Cooperative Research Network (CRN), based in Arlington, Va.

Washington, D.C. Congressman Sanford Bishop, Representative of Georgia’s Second Congressional District, today announced that the full House of Representatives passed the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007. The legislation aims to help communities better prepare for and mitigate the effects of catastrophic flooding.

“Communities in Southwest Georgia are well aware of the hardship imposed by catastrophic flooding. The Summer of 1994 remains fresh in the minds of many, and I am pleased to have been able to support legislation that will have a significant and positive impact should we be confronted with such a disaster in the future,” said Congressman Bishop.