In the U.S., we constantly fret about running out of oil. But we should be paying more attention to another limited natural resource: water. A water crisis is threatening many parts of the country, not just the arid West.

In 2008, metro Atlanta came within 90 days of seeing its principal water supply, Lake Lanier, dry up. Rainstorms eased the drought, but last month a federal judge ruled that Georgia may no longer use the lake as a municipal supply. The state is scrambling to overturn that ruling; but Alabama and Florida will oppose Georgia’s efforts.

Lake Superior is too shallow to float fully loaded freighters, dramatically increasing shipping costs. The Ipswich River near Boston has gone dry in five of the past eight years. In 2007, the hamlet of Orme, Tenn., ran out of water entirely, forcing it to truck in supplies from Alabama. In Florida, excessive groundwater pumping has dried up scores of lakes.

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Robert Glennon is a law professor at the University of Arizona. He is author of “Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to Do About It.”