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Published Friday, July 24, 2009 in Local

Smith part of Perdue powwow on water

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue held a meeting Thursday to "rally the troops" for the next battle in the tri-state water wars.

There were more than 100 stakeholders at the meeting held at the Governor's Mansion, said State Rep. Lynn Smith, R-Newnan. Smith was invited as chairwoman of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee. Attending the meeting were senators and representatives from metro Atlanta, government officials and business leaders, as well as representatives from other areas impacted by the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers.

"It was mainly a rallying of the troops," Smith said.

The governor introduced everyone who was there and gave an overview of the current situation. Last week, a federal judge ruled that Georgia has three years to get Congress to change the authorized uses of Lake Lanier to include water supply. If that is not done, metro Atlanta's withdrawals of water from the lake and river will have to be reduced drastically.

The governor said that the issue was one for the whole state of Georgia, not just metro Atlanta, Smith said.

He also said the water withdrawals by the city of Atlanta and other utilities make up less than 2 percent of total water flows in non-drought conditions, Smith said. In a drought, it's 3 to 4 percent.

"The point the governor is making is that this isn't an issue of the metro Atlanta area abusing or overusing what one would consider a fair amount of withdrawal," Smith said, "that it is a very low percentage."

Smith said she hopes to meet with Perdue soon and talk about some of the issues.

Though last week's ruling is on everyone's mind, "there are a lot of other court cases that are still out there," Smith said.

"The battle is on a lot of different fronts. The dialogue still needs to continue with the three governors," Smith said.

"If smart people with good intentions are put to work on problem solving, they can usually solve a problem," she said. "Let's just hope those are who the players are."

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