Published Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Will smart, fair minds finally find a solution to tri-state water war?

Editorial

For almost 20 years Georgia, Alabama and Florida have been waging the tri-state water wars, trying to reach an agreement on what happens to the water that flows through the three states, including the Chattahoochee River.

It's been a major disappointment the three states' negotiators have failed to reach an agreement, and the courts have had to get involved.

At the heart of the matter is metro Atlanta's use of water from Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee to supply the growing population and commerce in the largest metro area in the Southeast. Alabama and Florida are opposed to that usage, claiming Lake Lanier was not built by the Army Corps of Engineers for water supply.

Now a federal judge agrees with Alabama and Florida. Judge Paul Magnuson ruled Georgia's withdrawals from Lanier are illegal. Instead of cutting off Georgia's supply from Lanier immediately, the judge gives the states three years to come up with a solution.

Of course, Gov. Sonny Perdue is disappointed by the ruling and vows to appeal.

We don't know if an appeal will do any more than prolong this two-decade old impasse. A possible resolution would be for Congress to vote to make water supply a designated use for Lake Lanier. Another resolution could be to build more reservoirs in Georgia to supply water.

Rep. Lynn Smith has become a water expert during her 12 years of service in the Georgia House. Smith hopes this latest ruling will jump-start a resolution.

"You will see some creative things being done," said Smith. "Let's just hope that smart minds and fair minds will go and tackle this problem."

We hope Smith is right. It's imperative that solutions be found quickly. We've been saying that for years, but now the judge has put a three-year deadline on finding the solution or solutions.

We would like to see a two-pronged resolution: First, Congress should act to allow water supply to be one of the usages of Lanier water. But Georgia can't rely on that source as the only resolution to the problem. Georgia needs to get into the reservoir-building business. That's expensive, but it needs to be a part of the long-term solution.