Southeast Water Squabbles Continue
Alabama, Georgia and Florida are expected to miss their Friday, Feb. 15, deadline for reaching a regional water-sharing agreement, the Associated Press reported today.
The states have been squabbling for years, and the situation only grew worse as last year’s drought drove levels at Lake Lanier — Atlanta’s main water supply — perilously low. When that happened, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue did more than pray for rain (though he did that, too): he asked the feds to let his state hold back more water in its reservoirs rather than maintain federally mandated river flows into Alabama and Florida.
Since setting the mid-February deadline for a resolution, Bush administration officials have been working to mediate an agreement among the three states.
Thirsty for water, Georgia is also toying with the idea of “correcting” an 1818 survey in order to move its northern border with Tennessee up a mile, which would give it access to water from the Tennessee River. Needless to say, Tennessee officials are not amused.
Georgia’s efforts to keep more water for itself suffered a setback this month when the U.S. Court of Appeals tossed a 2003 agreement between the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The compact would have boosted Georgia’s Lake Lanier water rights.
