Feds to intervene in states' water feud

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UPDATED: 11:53 p.m. March 03, 2008
Feds to intervene in states' water feud
Georgia, Alabama, Florida have yet to reach agreement

By TIM EBERLY, STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/02/08

The states had their shot at finding a solution to the water crisis that grips Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Now the federal government will tell them what to do.

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Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Saturday that the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies will come up with their own water-sharing solution for the three states.

"Regrettably, it will necessarily be a solution being directed to the states instead of ... solution coming from the states," he wrote in a letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue and his counterparts in Alabama and Florida.

Bert Brantley, a spokesman for Perdue, said in a phone interview Saturday that federal intervention was not the governor's preferred outcome, and that Perdue wanted to "get to the finish line" with the other states on their own.

"We certainly would have preferred to reach an agreement with our neighboring states," Brantley said. "We were hopeful that we could actually get to an agreement."

Florida and Alabama did not have much to say on Saturday.

Erin Isaac, a spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, declined to comment on the federal government's move, saying that she had not seen Kempthorne's letter, nor had she talked to Crist about it.

Todd Stacy, a spokesman for Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, also declined to comment.

Kempthorne may have taken a page out of his predecessor's playbook.

In 2005, former Interior Secretary Gale Norton sent a similar letter to seven states bickering over the Colorado River, said George William Sherk, a water law expert at the Colorado School of Mines.

The letter prompted the states to return to the negotiating table and hash out an agreement, Sherk said.

"The states had that 'Come to Jesus' moment," he said.

A Denver attorney involved in that water dispute, Jim Lochhead, speculated that Kempthorne's letter is just that: a motivation letter in disguise.

"I would imagine the letter was sent as a way to facilitate and give some motivation to all three parties to sit down and work through a common agreement," Lochhead said.

The governors wanted to come to a resolution by Feb. 15, then extended their deadline by two weeks, to Saturday. But it became apparent in a series of meetings that they were going nowhere fast.

"Over the last two weeks, [Perdue's] optimism started to wane," Brantley said. "We didn't seem to be making the progress that we hoped for."

Kempthorne's letter did have a bright side. He said some have observed more progress in the past three months than in the 18 years that the states have feuding over the region's river basins.

"We have achieved some, but not all, of our objectives," Kempthorne said.

That progress, Brantley said, puts the federal government in a good position to find the right solutn.

"They've heard all the sides. The know all the issues," Brantley said. "They're well-prepared to made good, sound decisions."

The three states will still be closely involved in the federal decision-making process, he said.

Asked where the three states have reached agreement, Brantley declined to go into specifics, saying the meetings were confidential, he said in a follow-up e-mail to his phone interview.

Since 1990, Georgia has been fighting in court with Alabama and Florida over Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River, and just Alabama over Lake Allatoona and the Coosa River.

Lanier provides drinking water to more than 3 million metro Atlantans; Allatoona is the source for about 800,000. To Alabama and Florida, the lakes are backstops during droughts: the reserves where additional water can make up for what rain doesn't provide.

The 18-year impasse has stymied not only the states' long-term water planning, but also the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has been unable to update its operations plans for Lanier and Allatoona for decades.

In another development Saturday, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced that no severe drought declaration is necessary this year for the lower Flint River Basin in southwest Georgia.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Comments

By wow gold

May 11, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

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By Steve

Mar 3, 2008 10:50 PM | Link to this

What has Southern traditions got to do with water usages or developers running a state? One thousand people a day are moving to FL, what are they doing in FL to solve their local water supply issues � suing GA. Florida has more first magnitude springs than any other state; are they doing anything to help themselves here?
Alabama also grew at a rate of 10.06% from 1990 to 2000; I believe the state also has more rivers than any other, what are they doing?
Also, what about the immigration influx, this also contributes to more demand.
The southwest is having serious problems themselves; if Lake Mead and Powel become not useable for drinking water, where will all the millions of refugees go?
You want to solve this problem, hold elected officials accountable, they need to work at a national level to create a plan to solve the problem and not worry about what the party affiliation is. Think about how interstate highways alow people to move or how a oil companies move oil from the oil wells to the gas stations.

By Thirsty

Mar 3, 2008 8:32 PM | Link to this

In Canton we built a reservoir to water our city owned golf course. It is unfortunate that the development has gone bankrupt, but we still have the course, and while it is not very busy, it is very green.

By Sheba,Ga.

Mar 3, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this

I understand we need the water.But it isn't right to go and make another state part of Georgia. It has been a mistake made over a hundred of years.

By Rick

Mar 3, 2008 6:44 AM | Link to this

What rights do Alabama and Florida have to rain collected from watersheds in Georgia?

By Gene

Mar 2, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this

Back in January, Time Magazine had an article about Sonny Perdue's role in the water crisis. It seems that Sonny diverted water to some of his friends who had businesses in north Georgia, then he held the prayer meeting on the steps of the capitol as a cover. He is the most ineffective and corrupt governor in my lifetime. His effort to move the state line demonstrated to the whole country what buffoons Sonny and the state legislature really are.

By Richard Judd

Mar 2, 2008 10:48 AM | Link to this

Why do we need the feds getting involved with our water problems? Probably , because, we don't know how to resolve this problem. There are ways to help cut back our water consumption. Who uses the most water? answer, golf courses. On average a watering cycle uses 1 to 1.5 million gallons per day. Most courses that I have worked on had 2 to 4 wells, ranging from 2in to 4in.
Just how many golf courses are their?
Some of the courses I worked on use treated waste water, that saves more water then you can fathom.Next in use may be our beer plants, since most americians like to drink beer.
Well beer is made mostly from water.
Then we have our yards to water, on average, the consumer has an irrigation system in their yard. Take in to account ,how many yards, I couldn't guess. On average use I would say the use is around 8-12 thousand gallons per day. Do the math. There are ways to cut back our consumption, such as;water treatment plants treat our waste, why not use that to water our yards, golf courses? Yes it will cost each state alot of money up front. But look at the end product. (WE RUN OUT OF WATER), this may not happen in my lifetime.But, very soon water will cost more then oil.

By Ugh

Mar 2, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this

Great job Sonny. Once again you have failed to resolve a major issue affecting the entire state. And now we get to watch the bloated federal government decide what's best for Georgians. (sigh)

By Darlene

Mar 2, 2008 7:40 AM | Link to this

I have a hard time understanding Georgia - particularly the Atlanta area. You keep allowing developers to run your state and city and then you expect all the other surrounding states to take care of your overpopulating area. Get a life and quit this useless development when you do not have the resources to handle it. Don't expect Florida, Tennessee, etc. to solve your self-created problem. Just like all of a sudden you have decided that part of Tennessee belongs to you! You are a joke and degrade the southern traditions of caring, compassionate people.

By Billy Bob

Mar 2, 2008 6:13 AM | Link to this

This actually may be better for all of us. At least the Feds have a little more propensity to be open and to involve stakeholders in thier planning processes.
The three governors always met in secret with only thier buddies from GA and AL Power deciding the future of the basin.
This fresh start ought to inlcude provisions that no state agancy or power company is allowed to participate. They've already blown thier secret meetings and the opportunity they had to mess this all up.

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