Atlanta's main water access placed on 2012 deadline

Amanda Serfozo

Recent district court rulings restrict Atlanta's access to Lake Lanier
Photo credit: www.obeo.com

Georgia, and the city of Atlanta in particular, could be facing dry days ahead if leaders from two other neighboring states can’t negotiate an agreement within the next three years.

According to the Associated Press, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia remain in a deadlock over the fate of Lake Lanier, but could be forced to the bargaining table, leaving Georgia politicians in a tight situation – either succumb to strict demands by neighboring states, such as tight water efficiency standards, costly construction and infrastructure projects, and round-the-clock checkpoints, or leave Georgia out to dry by cutting water supplies to levels they were decades ago.

District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson ruled July 17 that Georgia was required to cease all activity and water withdrawals from the lake immediately, as the water reservoir is protected for alternative uses of power, and does not exist as an unrestricted supply for the city. Usage of Lake Lanier, Atlanta’s primary water source to over 5.5 million as of 2009, must undergo permission by Congress if the city wants access to it.

Larry Sanders, Interim Director of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University Law School, stated that the tri-state predicament is unusual, and that Judge Magnuson’s district court ruling is based on issues of legality, not on who needs or wants the water most.

via examiner.com