During the meeting to update local government leaders on north Georgia's water crisis, Chick Krautler said, "We want to be very clear, this water shortage that we have today, this drought, is not the result of the growth of metro Atlanta. It is the result of a climate condition that we have no control over. Neither the region's population growth or the amount of usage resulting from that has caused this problem."

Krautler says metro counties have already exceeded the Governor's mandate for a 10 percent water reduction, dropping 16 to 24 percent in just two months. But he says more conservation can be done at home.

ARC members passed a resolution calling of the Army Corps of Engineers to re-evaluate its interim operation plan and adopt an emergency recovery plan to allow Lake Lanier to refill, while protecting both endangered species and the health of metro residents who depend on the lake and the Chattahoochee River for drinking water.