CANTON, Ga. – Here at Lake Allatoona, about an hour northwest of Atlanta, the favorite fishing holes for anglers that had been hidden for decades are now the favored sites for men walking with metal detectors looking for lost Rolexes or rings.

At the Little River Grill, the lakeside watering hole for boaters is no longer lakeside. The water has retreated a good 100 yards. Business has also dried up. Yesterday, the owner laid off four employees.

At the nearby marina, you can drive up and fill your car at the gas dock that sits on the lakebed.

It's not a problem –  most boats are stuck on racks around here and many marinas are high and dry.

On the upside, the fish are biting because with levels down 16 feet – it's like fishing in a barrel.

Here you can dramatically see what many in the southeast are only starting to hear: the region is quickly running out of water and for the first time in U.S. history major cities are in real danger of running dry.

Traditionally, the Southeast felt it had a plentiful water supply in the form of regular rain backed up by summer tropical storms and the occasional hurricane. This year, that hasn't happened and now officials are shocked at how quickly their lakes and waterways are vanishing.

Michael Hayes of the National Drought Mitigation Center says that's because the problem is magnified by something state officials have only been too happy to promote – development.

Over the past few decades, the Southeast's population has soared. If the rains don't return, that boom could come to a shuddering halt in the next decade.

Officials only now are admitting they are facing a natural disaster as great as any hurricane or earthquake. One that seemed to sneak up as silently as the water in Lake Allatoona slipped away.