Governor Sonny Perdue says Georgia and neighbor states Alabama and Florida have “come a long way to closing the gap” in solving the long-running water dispute.

Perdue’s comments on Tuesday came as his negotiating team met with its Alabama counterparts today over Lake Lanier water-sharing rights.

Perdue says even though he and neighboring governors haven’t met face-to-face since January, things have progressed.

“This is not undoable in its complexity. The only time we’re talking about sharing (water) is in dire, dire situations as we faced in 1997. And that happens only a very small percentage of the time.”

A federal judge ruled last year that Atlanta has few rights to Lanier water. Georgia has until 2012 to strike a deal with Alabama and Florida, or else its access to Lanier could be severely limited.

Tags: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Lake Lanier, Governor Sonny Perdue, water wars, water negotiations