Economy in Southeast feels the drought

ATLANTA, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Drought in the U.S. Southeast could affect more than pool companies and landscapers, as economists said continued dry weather could hurt the region's economy.

The Southeast has been largely spared the nation's economic woes, economists said but the lack of rain is a serious concern, affecting pools, landscaping, tourism and agriculture. The problem could even affect electric rates, since the region's nuclear power plants rely on huge volumes of water to cool reactors, The Christian Science Monitor reported Monday.

The drought has choked $1 billion out of the region's landscaping businesses and a ban on filling pools could seriously affect Georgia's $150 million per year pool maintenance industry.

"It's too hot around here in the summer to go without a pool," Johnny Witt, a skateboarder who labeled summers in Georgia, "the stick season," said to the Monitor

Drought conditions are also slowing development, as some municipalities enact moratoriums on growth to avoid increases in water consumption.

"I'm concerned that these so-called water policies are really stalking horses for growth moratoriums," said Philip Isley, a city councilor in Raleigh, N.C.

In a recent report, the U.S. Federal Reserve in Atlanta warned, "the impact of long-term water shortages could be profound," the Monitor said.