Dixie drought eases, but issues linger

ATLANTA, March 18 (UPI) -- The weekend storms that rolled through the U.S. South bent, but didn't break, the region's ongoing drought.

Officials at the U.S. Drought Monitor and National Weather Service said Tuesday Alabama, North Carolina and the Atlanta area received a welcome soaking that eased the situation.

Farmers in northern Alabama report fields too soggy to work. Atlanta planners say they consider the drought essentially over in the metro area.

But at the same time, officials told USA Today the dry spell brought out some serious issues of water rights in an area that is generally not known for shortages.

"The Southeast has not yet come to grips with the fact that it has a

water problem, that it needs to plan for its water usage, that it can't

take for granted that all the water it needs will always be there," said Robin Craig, a law professor and water expert at Florida State University.

Complicating matters is the interstate nature of Dixie's watersheds, which experts said would require states, local governments and Washington to create water-sharing agreements to satisfy the needs of agriculture and growing urban areas.