Wretched Excess Dept.: a Georgian Consumes a Niagara

Instead of Governor Sonny Perdue praying for rain, or any of the great ideas Martin Lewis has at Huffpo, he might have been better off having a few quiet words with Chris G. Carlos, a homeowner who used 440,000 gallons of water in September, or about 14,700 gallons a day. Mr. Carlos has apparently been using the water not only to flush nine toilets and maintain a swimming pool but also to refresh nearly four acres of lush landscaping around his white-columned, red brick home.

Mr. Carlos says "I honestly didn't realize the extent of my water use and regret I didn't act sooner." Neighbors scoff. "With the water crisis that we're in down here, I just think it's ridiculous that he would take advantage of the situation," said Ken L. Scott, who lives across the street from Mr. Carlos. But it turns out that through a loophole in the rules, everything he did was perfectly legal. ::New York Times