EASTERN WATER WARS WITH GEORGIA VERSUS FLORIDA AND ALABAMA: ENVIRONMENTAL VERSUS POLITICAL SOLUTIONS

The water wars of Georgia versus Florida and Alabama begin in 1998 when Georgia proposed to build a drinking water reservoir on the Tallapoosa River in Haralson County, Georgia. Alabama sued the Army Core of Engineers to block permitting of the reservoir. Governors of the three states have on rare occasions attempted to negotiate a settlement. Today the focus of the water wars has shifted to the Chattahoochee River, Lake Lanier and metro Atlanta’s 4 million people that consume 654 MGD. Georgia asked the Army Core of Engineers to increase Georgia’s permits to receive a larger share from Lake Lanier for metro Atlanta. The proposal was to increase Georgia’s share of Lake Lanier water from 13% to 22%. Alabama and Florida objected and Georgia lost in the US Supreme Court when the court refused to interfere. In 2009 a second dramatic court ruling against Georgia by a US District Court Judge ruled that Georgia has no right to use Lake Lanier as a source of drinking water for metro Atlanta. This cuts off supplies to 3 million people. The court gave Georgia three years to get Congress to write a law permitting drinking water for Atlanta or face a drastic cut in water supply. Outnumbered two to one in Congress, Georgia may have a hard time winning the water war.

If Georgia fails in Congress Georgia will have to replace ~178 MGD that metro Atlanta gets from Lake Lanier. Combining our ideas with a American Rivers report that finds metro Atlanta could save 130-210 MGD this could be done by (1) conservation, (2) water efficiency, (3) stop leaks (save ~ 14%), (4) meter all users, (5) sewage into drinking water – Clayton County’s wetland treatment upscale to metro Atlanta, (6) groundwater, using modern exploration methods and pump tests to find and maintain sustainable yields, (7) replace water hog appliances, fixtures and irrigation systems, (8) progressive fees for water consumption, (9) systems of lakes and aqueducts linking Athens and Atlanta to Tennessee River and the Savannah River at Augusta, but there must be a willing seller and a willing buyer, (10) mandatory summer outdoor water restrictions for all lawns and new plants, (11) encourage rainwater harvesting, (12) build new local reservoirs, (13) build and landscape to limit waste, and (14) public education.