Environmentalists say state and local officials haven't done enough to implement water conservation measures, exacerbating the impact of this year's historic drought.

In fact, members of the Georgia Water Coalition said Wednesday that a few water conservation measures could save Metro Atlanta nearly 85 million gallons a day, almost enough to supply DeKalb County.

"During a drought, every single drop matters," Sally Bethea, executive director of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, told reporters at a Capitol press conference.

Later, state Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta), said he will file legislation offering state income tax credits to Georgians who replace old plumbing fixtures with more water-efficient ones. He also wants to add low-water products to the current sales tax holiday for energy-efficient products.

The activists' message at the press conference stood in contrast to Gov. Sonny Perdue's comments only two days earlier. Perdue told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution that the 10-percent cutback in water withdrawals he mandated last week was largely symbolic and would have a negligible impact on the area's water supply.

Perdue has argued that rapid development in North Georgia has nothing to do with the area's water problems, and he has been backed up in that assessment by the leaders of the state Senate and House.

The coalition of 150 organizations released a report card saying the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District has failed to implement sufficient water conservation measures.

They say it has hasn't taken the lead on getting 1 million older homes in metro Atlanta retrofitted with plumbing fixtures that use less water, that not enough has been done to fix leaky pipes and that far too many area homes are currently on septic tanks instead of sewer systems.

Septic systems don't return water to rivers as promptly as sewers.

"Wise planning for Metro Atlanta's growth could have lessened the current crisis," Bethea said.

State Rep. Brian Thomas (D-Lilburn), who attended the press conference, said, "It is unfortunate it takes a crisis for people to begin focusing on something we should have been focusing on for years.

"We didn't just wake up .... facing a water crisis. But we seem to be acting like it."

Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens, vice chairman of the water district, said he's frustrated that environmentalists are pointing the finger at the district and local governments on issues such as water-efficient plumbing fixtures.

"We've been the whipping boy for the environmental groups," he said. "We went out on the limb in doing the right thing in my opinion and nobody supported us, including the environmental community."

Olens noted that many local governments have gone to "tiered pricing," charging higher rates to heavy water users. Many counties are also discussing offering incentives to residents who install water-efficient fixtures.

Olens said environmental groups gave the planning district little support several years ago when it decided its top priority was legislation to require Georgians selling homes and businesses to have water-efficient fixtures in place. The measure failed.

State Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates), plans to re-introduce similar legislation for the 2008 session.

Thomas said in the past, "special interests" at the Capitol have killed such conservation bills, specifically the real estate lobby.

Keith Hatcher, a lobbyist for the Georgia Association of Realtors, said there was a good reason the water-efficient fixture bill failed.

"We think it is really bad public policy," Hatcher said.

He said the government should not be able to mandate that certain things be done to houses before they can be put up for sale. "To say your property is off the market until you do this, that's a scary proposition to us," he said.