Georgia’s persistent drought is expected to stretch well into 2008.

But beyond 2008 and what will be left of the state’s dwindling water supply are what worry Dalton Utilities president Don Cope.

“You’ve heard the governor (Sonny Perdue) last week make the statement that Georgia has enough water if it conserves,” Cope told the utility’s governing board during its monthly meeting on Monday. “That scares me not for our lives, but for the lives of our grandchildren. It scares me because that approach may not allow us to put in place the long-range planning and development that we need for the water supply.”

State officials are currently putting together a long-term water management plan. Cope, along with other utility officials, has met with several state department heads and spoken to local legislative representatives about the drought. Utility board member Smith Foster has accompanied Cope to Atlanta and said the face-to-face meetings have been useful.

“They listened and they were receptive to it,” Foster said.

The entire state remains under strict Level 4 watering guidelines, which ban most outdoor water uses. Level 4 restrictions were put in place on Sept. 28 and Cope expects them to remain throughout 2008.

“My concern is we enter the summer in a drought condition and a Level 4 condition, we’re going to have lots of people upset because they can’t water because those state restrictions will still be in effect,” Cope said.

Rain forecasts are not positive for northwest Georgia. Cope said a wall of high pressure, which does not produce favorable conditions for rain, remains over the area, resulting in seasonably warm temperatures. In fact, a high temperature record for the state was set on Sunday.

“I duck hunted in a T-shirt this year,” Cope said. “Usually when you duck hunt you’ve got icicles coming off your nose.”

Also from the meeting:

• A water main break on Walnut Avenue last week resulted in the loss of about 1.5 million gallons of water, Cope said. The 36-inch pipe burst sometime around 11 p.m. Monday night. It took utility crews about four hours to isolate the break and stop the water loss. Water service was restored to all affected locations by midweek.

• The utility held two separate deer hunts on its Land Application System property. During the Nov. 17-18 archery hunt, five doe and one buck were harvested by 64 hunters. During the Dec. 1-2 adult/child hunt, 15 doe and six bucks were harvested by 63 hunters.