ATLANTA_For as long as anyone can remember, the narrow river that runs through the mountains around Orange, Va., has provided ample water for the people who live in the foothills. But this summer, the Rapidan River dried up.

For weeks, the people in the town in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains have not been able to drink from a fountain, flush their toilets or wash dishes in the kitchen sink. Portable toilets are set up in the parking lot at the McDonald's. Laundromats are open only two days a week. And waitresses at the Firehouse Cafe, an 80-year-old landmark, are brewing coffee with bottled water and serving breakfast on paper plates.

"We're doing things the old-fashioned way. We are washing the cooking utensils in a small mixing bowl and using a lot of canned goods. It's not that bad, but many customers are staying away," said Peggy Long, 58, a cook at the Firehouse. "I've been here most of my life, and we've never been without water. We'll all be glad when it's over."

What has happened in Orange, a rural town 70 miles northwest of Richmond, is not an anomaly. From Georgia to Washington state, a stubborn drought is forcing Americans to readjust their lifestyles to accommodate an extreme shortage of water this summer. Forty-seven states are experiencing drought or drought warnings, and rainfall has been significantly below average in 27 states. The economic losses, experts said, could reach $20 billion for the summer.

On Friday, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner declared a state of civil emergency, banning lawn watering, residential car-washing and the filling of most swimming pools in much of the state. He also appointed a drought czar.

"Parts of the Southeast and Western United States have been in various stages of drought since 1998, so the impact accumulates and carries over," said Donald Wilhite, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "This multiyear drought has taken its toll on agriculture, urban water supplies, recreation and tourism, fisheries and, in some areas, hydroelectric power. And there is no indication that things are getting any better."

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Americans are being told to conserve water by turning off outdoor sprinklers, taking shorter showers, not filling their back-yard swimming pools and eliminating weekend rituals such as washing the car. Some cities, particularly those without water reserves, have instituted strict guidelines for washing clothes, using dishwashers and even flushing toilets. In Denver, all outdoor water usage _ which consumes 60 percent of all residential water consumption nationwide _ will be banned starting in October, except for limited watering of trees and shrubs.

In some parts of the country, people are paying a much higher price than forfeiting a lush, green lawn. The dry conditions have brought economic disaster, particularly in the agricultural regions of the West and Midwest, where livestock depends on grass.

Illinois has suffered only a moderate drought this year, mostly Downstate.

But in Kansas, where farming and ranching are a way of life for many people, drought has devoured about two-thirds of the farmland, resulting in a $270 million loss in wheat production this year. Pastures are parched and hayfields are almost empty, making it impossible to keep cattle alive. As in other farming states, Kansas is seeking federal assistance, but in the meantime, ranchers have had to sell their cattle at a loss or ship the animals to another state to wait out the drought.

Wells have dried up in Virginia, leaving families without drinking water. Corn crops in the Midwest are producing about 1 billion fewer bushels this season, driving up the price of corn for farmers nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers in Nebraska cannot irrigate their crops, and formerly lush grainfields are withering under the scorching sun.

The state is paying farmers in south Georgia not to irrigate this summer; instead they are forfeiting their cotton and peanut crops in exchange for $130 an acre. Small towns are borrowing water from their neighbors, using daily caravans to truck it in.

Orange, Va., for instance, plans to bring in up to 300,000 gallons of water a day from nearby Culpeper, at a price of $14,000 a day. But with limited funds, officials acknowledge, relief will be temporary. And long-term solutions, such as building a reservoir, are too costly.

"We have a critical situation because we don't have a significant water reserve. We are solely dependent on a river that is, in effect, a shallow stream that feeds from the Blue Ridge Mountains," Mayor Ray Lonick said. "Even when the river is flowing, it is no more than 40 inches deep. But we always had enough for ourselves and to sell to the town of Gordonsville and the small industrial parks nearby."

In July, the four creeks that provide water to Beulah, Colo., dried up. Like many of the 800 residents of the Beulah Valley, Debbie Rose uses her bath water to flush her toilet. Several families have bought camping showers and are washing outside.

"Even people who were here in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl years don't remember a time the creeks stopped flowing," said Rose, who owns the general store. "This is the worst shortage we've ever seen."

Several weeks ago, the American Dairy Association began hauling thousands of gallons of water into Beulah, helping ease the shortage. As news of the town's plight spread, contributions of bottled water came from as far away as Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Even cities with hefty reserves are not immune. New York's huge reservoir system is down about 17 percent from normal and dropping 2 billion gallons per day. Rainfall across the Northeast is down about 19 inches over last year. Lake Lanier, a reservoir that supplies water to metro Atlanta, is 10 feet below normal.

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The Southeast has so many rivers it is hard to believe there might not be enough water to go around. But there is a bitter water war between Alabama, Georgia and Florida that has gone on for more than a decade.

The clash centers on a group of rivers that originate in Georgia, wind through Alabama and flow into the Gulf of Mexico from Florida. Perched near the headwaters of the main source _ the Chattahoochee River _ is Atlanta, which is constantly adding new offices, homes and stores that need sprinklers, sinks and bathtubs.

This growing mass of 4.1 million people gulps up water, leaving drought-ravaged towns and farms downstream with the leftovers. It is tough enough when rainfall is normal; it is nearly impossible when there is a drought.

While Atlanta has tried to reserve water from the rivers to ensure it has enough for the next 30 years, Alabama is fighting to secure water to meet its agricultural needs and to accommodate burgeoning growth in the Birmingham area. Florida wants to ensure that the water flowing from the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers in Georgia is clean enough for the thriving oyster industry in the Apalachicola Bay. Ultimately, the dispute could land in the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The basic problem is that our demands for water are growing, and yet the amount of water we have to use is finite and shared. The drought has helped to exacerbate it," said David Feldman, a research scientist at the Energy, Environment and Resources Center at the University of Tennessee. "The water that Atlanta uses for its municipal water supply is the same water used upstream for recreation and downstream for agriculture and the fishing industry."

A study released by environmentalists last week found that paved areas have worsened the drought by blocking billions of gallons of rainwater from seeping through the soil to replenish groundwater. The report said that Atlanta, which leads the nation in sprawl, loses enough water to supply the average household needs of 3.6 million people a year.

Disputes over rivers and other water sources are common in the dry climates of Arizona and Southern California. As urban areas grow, experts said, similar struggles will take place in other areas.

The drought already has exacerbated tensions over growth in Santa Fe. The City Council is considering proposals _ spawned by the water shortage _ to limit growth. One plan would require builders to pay for retrofitting plumbing in other parts of the city to balance the increased water usage from a new subdivision.

Rita Schmidt Sudman, executive director of the Water Education Foundation in Sacramento, said that as competition for water becomes fierce, the drought could be a catalyst for public policy change.

"It's an opportunity to rethink the ways we do things," she said. "Out of each drought has come changes in water law."

With wells drying up, factories being ordered to close and schools considering delaying the start of classes, states _ which are also suffering from record budget deficits this year _ have turned to the federal government for drought relief. So far, aid has been slow in coming.

President Bush has vowed to trim federal spending to ease a burgeoning budget deficit. The administration insists that drought relief should come from the $190 billion farm bill the president signed in May, not a new disaster relief package sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. In Daschle's home state of South Dakota _ where the drought has cost $1.8 billion in business and production losses _ drought relief has become a key political issue.

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According to Wilhite, of the mitigation center, drought is the most expensive natural disaster in this country _ more so than hurricanes, fires or floods _ yet it lags in terms of public policy and funding. Thirty-four states have drought response plans in place, but most, including the one in Illinois, are inadequate, he said.

"We have to get people to understand that each region has a unique set of problems when it comes to drought," Wilhite said. "So it is difficult to come up with a national policy that addresses the needs in the Southeast, where droughts tend to be shorter, and the West, where historically they last longer."

Drought has become a focus of the nation's governors this year. They helped develop legislation introduced in Congress in May for a national plan. The bill would establish a National Drought Preparedness Office, among other things, to put in place measures to ease water problems and to provide a monitoring network.

"With natural disasters like hurricanes, floods and tornadoes, there is national policy in place that lays out the role and responsibilities of the federal government. But with drought, we wait until there is a disaster, until the crops are drying up and we are hauling water to cities, and then we run to Congress and beg for emergency appropriations," said Shaun McGrath, a program manager for the Western Governors' Association.

"There will be a lot of pressure on Congress to do something this year," he said. "This is the third-worst drought on record, and there has been a lot of suffering. Most people agree we need to change how we do business in the future."

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(Chicago Tribune correspondents Karen Brandon and Vincent J. Schodolski contributed to this report.)

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