After spending decades gobbling up far more than its fair share of the South East’s fresh water supply, Georgia is finally looking for ways to stem its greedy appetite.

The fast-paced (and uncontrolled) growth that has fueled the economic success surrounding the metro Atlanta area has also put an undue strain on Georgia’s waterways — many of which eventually flow into Alabama and Florida. That list includes the Coosa River, and those states depend on a steady flow of fresh water for everything from drinking to recreation to power generation and industrial use.

The tug-of-war over who has the rights to the water — which does originate in Georgia — has dragged on for years, eventually landing in the courts when the states could not come up with a compromise on their own.

Despite ongoing negations, no consensus can ever be reached unless Georgia and, more importantly Atlanta, does something to curb demand.

Much to the frustration of leaders in Alabama and Florida, Georgia’s officials have done little to move in that direction — until now.

Regardless of the ongoing multi-state water wars, the most recent drought almost dried up much of Georgia’s water reserves, with reservoirs falling to record-low levels. That seems to have driven home the need for conservation and water efficiency.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed legislation, the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of 2010, that would begin to address the problem.

While the strictest water use measures would be left up to local governments – a smart move since one-size-fits-all solutions usually don’t work well — the state would enact sweeping reforms to monitor water use and promote better efficiency.

Included in the plan are provisions for better water fixtures and monitors in new homes and retrofitting older homes, tougher standards for water loss and leak detection for public water systems, and expanding agricultural water use monitoring.

Those are all sound ideas — in fact, if Georgia is doing its part, we expect similar conservation efforts from Alabama and Florida — but much more has to be done to make sure there is enough water to go around.

We hope Georgia continues to move in the right direction on this and that the negotiators from Alabama and Florida keep the pressure on to make sure that happens.