According to the Worldwide Water foundation, five million people die each year from lack of clean drinking water.  That's a hard thing to comprehend, since I, like the majority of Americans, haven't ever had to really worry about thirst.  Lately, though, that glass of water on the table looks a little more important, especially for those who live in the bigger cities of my state. 

Even with all the rain we've had lately, Georgia is still apparently in a drought.  That's not a big shock, but I had expected the situation to improve at least a little, considering the frequent downpours since New Years.  These recent storms have probably helped, but it's not over yet.  Thankfully, I don't live in Atlanta. 

One interesting thing I found out concerning the drought is that some of the water from Georgia, what little we have left, anyway, actually goes out to other, nearby states.  This wasn't such a big deal in the past, but under the circumstances Governor Perdue has been trying to limit it.

Normally, I wouldn't be too concerned about this kind of thing.  The weather tends to work itself out, given time.  Plus, I have a well.  However, some analysts have suggested that the drought might linger on into the summer and fall, at which point we might truly be in trouble. 

We could always rely on the government, I suppose.  Worst case scenario, if all the Georgia reservoirs dry up and we completely run out of water, I doubt that we'll be left to die.  Then again, in the past the federal government has proved to be about as reliable as the weather itself.  But I'm sure that's no cause for alarm. 
The part that disturbs me most is that our state government doesn't seem to have a plan other than conservation and cutting back on the amount of water we send to other states.  To my knowledge, no move has been made to find other water sources.  If the government has taken such steps, they've kept quiet about it.  Personally, I think that if the governor had found another way to bring water in, he would have mentioned it instead of urging us to take shorter showers.  Politicians almost never hide the things that they've done correctly. 

For the moment, though, we're not in dire danger.  Georgia hasn't transformed into the Gobi Desert.  That's not to say that no one is suffering.  Certain businesses in particular are having a hard time.  There are, of course, the boating and water sports industries.  Agriculture isn't doing that great, which is ironic, considering the ridiculously warm temperatures this December and January has graced us with.  Bizarrely, one type of business doesn't appear to be taking a big hit.  Can you guess it?

Car washes. I'm serious.  Despite the multitude of conservation efforts and all the new restrictions, the state government hasn't done anything to commercial car washes.  It probably has something to do with job rights.  I understand that it would be unfair for the government to take away someone's only way of making money, but that doesn't make it any less ironic.  You aren't supposed to wash your own car anymore, but it's perfectly fine to go pay someone else to do it.  Maybe this whole thing has even caused a boost for business. 

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.  Hopefully it will continue to rain heavily, but I'm not going to bet on it.  Although the weather will even out eventually, that doesn't mean we won't have some short-term misery.  Unless anyone can come up with a convincing rain dance, we'll have to wait it out.  So cross your fingers, hope for clouds, and pray that we won't all be drinking Dasani by April.