ATLANTA -- A water-sharing agreement among Georgia, Alabama and Florida appears to be unlikely.

The parties have scheduled no more negotiations between now and the deadline on Saturday.

Todd Stacy, a spokesman for Alabama Gov, Bob Riley, said Wednesday that confidential talks appear all but dead. Representatives from the three states met on Monday.

Stacy said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne is expected to release a statement later this week. Kempthorne has tried to broker a deal among the states since last fall.

The states' differences are the subject of lawsuits in federal courts in Alabama and Florida, so continued litigation could determine how the water is divided.

Hopes for an out-of-court agreement began to fade Tuesday when Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue accused his counterparts of lacking resolve in the negotiations. Perdue told The Associated Press the two other states' problems are not as critical as Georgia's.

Riley responded that Perdue's comments show why talks among the states are failing.