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Southeast Water Dispute

November 2007

A severe two-year drought in the Southeast and rapid growth in the Atlanta area have pitted Georgia, Alabama and Florida in conflict over allocation of water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river basin.  Georgia officials contend that Atlanta's drinking water supply in Lake Lanier—its primary source—is down to 80 days and have sought federal intervention to hold back flows from the reservoir.  Alabama and Florida oppose that action, claiming that water from the interstate system is needed downstream for power plant cooling, municipal and agricultural use, and protection of endangered species and the commercial oyster industry in the Gulf of Mexico.

The dispute began in 1990 when Alabama sued the Army Corps of Engineers over Georgia's request to divert additional water from the ACF basin to meet growth demands.  Florida sided with Alabama and Georgia with the Corps.  Negotiations among the governors in the ensuing years failed to reach a compact agreement and the states found themselves in court.  As the drought—the worst in 20 years—lengthened and water levels in Lake Lanier plunged to their lowest level in a quarter century, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue petitioned a federal judge on October 19 to stop the Corps from releasing so much water.  Perdue, Alabama Governor Bob Riley and Florida Governor Charlie Crist met with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne on November 1 and agreed to reduce flows from the ACF basin by 16 percent and work toward a broader resolution of the water dispute by February 15.  The Florida Department of Environmental Protection opposed the agreement in a letter sent on November 8 to the Corps and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), which must approve the agreement because of the potential impacts of reduced flows downstream on two endangered species.  USFWS is expected to announce its decision on November 15.

Regardless of what happens at the federal level, the Georgia General Assembly is expected to consider a bond package during the 2008 session to help local governments increase water storage capacity. 

 Natural Resources