Atlanta, Georgia , made headlines last year when the city announced that it probably had less than 2 months water supply. Lake Lanier, the largest reservoir in the area, was almost out of water. Lake Lanier supplies water for 4-5 million Georgians.

Georgia did get a little rain. It has sustained them until now, but the Chatahoochee River that feeds Lake Lanier, is still only at 1/3 capacity. Despite significant rainfall in July, 2008, water levels of Lake Lanier have hardly budged.

We had the same weather pattern as Atlanta in 2006. Our weather pattern changed. Theirs did not. Lake Travis could have been empty by now.

The problem in Atlanta was worsened by a complex web of inter-basin transfers. What about this inter-basin transfer into Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock?

The water problem goes past all this. Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down. Nuclear power plants use an awesome amount of cooling water to operate. One reactor in Alabama has already had a brief shutdown.

When water gets really low, electricity will also be threatened. But electricity powers the water intakes and treatment plants…