Gov. Sonny Perdue's Water Contingency Task Force will not offer any interbasin transfer scenarios in its portfolio of options to resolve metro Atlanta's need for drinking water, according to the group's most recent report.

The committee said in a report last month that transferring water from the Savannah River basin to Atlanta was feasible but would be more expensive than other options. It specifically mentioned one scenario that would transfer 100 million gallons a day from Lake Hartwell into Lake Lanier, where it would be used by residents of Gwinnett County. Mr. Perdue's spokesman, Bert Brantley, said the concept was included mainly for discussions and was not a formal proposal.

The newest report, issued during a task force meeting 12/11 in Atlanta, indicates that interbasin transfers will not be considered.

"No Interbasin transfer options are contained in the 2020 alternate portfolios under evaluation," the report said. "This is based primarily on relative cost effectiveness, as well as on Task Force input and on implementation feasibility."

The scramble to identify water options was accelerated last summer, when U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson concluded that Atlanta's withdrawals from Lake Lanier to accommodate almost 4 million residents were illegal because the lake was built for hydropower, not as a source of drinking water.

The ruling was a victory for Alabama and Florida, which have argued for decades that Georgia is taking more than its share of water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin. Georgia was ordered to stop taking Lanier's water within three years unless Congress authorizes continued use.

The task force, appointed in October, was charged with identifying the best solutions to avoid water shortages.

The group's newest report indicates that the membership is still divided on the best options to ensure adequate water supplies for the state's population center.

In a survey, task force members were asked whether "water transfers, if temporary in nature, would be acceptable to address a shortfall." Of those who responded, 45 agreed or strongly disagreed; seven were neutral; and 10 disagreed or strongly disagreed.