Judge rules against Georgia in water war case

Florida has won a big victory in the battle over water rights from the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint River System. On Friday, a federal judge ruled against Georgia, deciding that Atlanta has to stop withdrawing water from Lake Lanier unless they can get approval from Congress. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson said Lake Lanier wasn't built for water supply and the state's withdrawals are illegal. The lake was initially built for hydropower and providing water to Georgia was not an authorized use. The judge said it would be impossible to immediately stop using the lake because it is metro Atlanta's main water supply and serves about 4 million people. But if the state can't get permission from Congress to use of the federal reservoir for drinking water within three years, the withdrawals must end. The order adds that all water withdrawals be frozen at current levels for the next three years until Congressional authorization is given or if some other resolution is reached. The case stems from a 2003 water-sharing agreement between Georgia and the Army Corps of Engineers that would have allowed Georgia's withdrawals to jump from about 13 percent of the lake's capacity to about 22 percent over the next several years. Florida Governor Charlie Crist called the ruling a “monumental milestone in the 18-year battle between Florida, Alabama and Georgia over the waters of the ACF basin, underscoring the importance of the Apalachicola’s environment and economy.” Crist added that ““Florida has always been ready to negotiate, in good faith, a fair equitable sharing of the waters in the basin, and we remain committed to doing so in the future.”