The governors of Georgia, Florida and Alabama have set a date to meet over the issue of the ongoing water dispute between the three states. A press release from Governor Sonny Perdue’s office says the meeting will be the afternoon of Tuesday, December 15th in Montgomery, Alabama.

For the past few months, Perdue has been pushing his counterparts to huddle over the topic of water rights in the region.

In July, a federal judge ruled that the Atlanta region was illegally tapping Lake Lanier. He said Georgia would lose access to the federal reservoir in three years if it can't push a settlement through Congress authorizing the use. The ruling gave Florida and Alabama the upper-hand in the states' two-decade dispute over river basins in the region.

Since the ruling, Georgia officials have worked to attack the problem on several fronts: an appeal of the July-decision ; urging Congress to reauthorize use of Lake Lanier for current needs of Georgia ; and meetings of a so-called water task force, made-up of political and business leaders.

Tags: Georgia, Alabama, Lake Lanier, Governor Sonny Perdue, water wars, governors, federal ruling, Flordia