Judge again rules against Georgia in water fight

By Bill Rankin


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The judge overseeing the tri-state water wars case on Monday again ruled against Georgia and all but told the state it should stop litigating claims to Lake Lanier water rights and settle the case once and for all.

In a three-page order, Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson frowned upon the Georgia parties’ appeals to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

He said an appeal “will only delay and further complicate the resolution of the important claims at issue.”

Gil Rogers, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said Georgia needs to get the message.

“If the signal the judge sent in July wasn’t clear enough, it’s now become that much more clear,” Rogers said. “He’s setting the framework for the parties to finally resolve this 20-year-old dispute.”

In July, Magnuson ruled it is illegal for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to draw water from Lake Lanier to meet the needs of metro Atlanta’s 3.5 million residents. Magnuson stayed the case for three years to give Georgia, Alabama and Florida time to work out a water-sharing plan. The judge said metro Atlanta should not increase its current level of withdrawals from the lake during this time frame.

Magnuson gravely stated that metro Atlanta will have to find most of its water elsewhere if an agreement cannot be reached.

“The court stayed the matter for three years, to allow the parties and the political system to attempt to reach a solution to this inherently political problem,” Maguson wrote Monday. Magnuson said he “fully anticipates” the parties will resolve their differences before the deadline.

But Magnuson also noted that “keeping with the gamesmanship evidenced throughout this litigation,” the Georgia parties never abandon their legal claims.

The Georgia parties, which include the state, the Atlanta Regional Commission and the city of Atlanta, are seeking an appeal to the 11th Circuit.

In court filings, the Georgia parties said Magnuson’s July order constitutes an injunction, which would give them one avenue of immediate appeal.

On Monday, Magnuson gave his thoughts on that matter. “No injunctive relief was ordered or intended by the court’s July 17, 2009, order,” he wrote.

Separately, the Georgia parties had asked Magnuson to enter a final judgment in a lawsuit the state filed in 2000 when it sought a permanent reallocation of about 34 percent of Lake Lanier’s water for Atlanta.

This is one of seven lawsuits that have been consolidated and put before Magnuson in the water wars litigation. In his July order, Magnuson denied Georgia’s request for the permanent reallocation of Lake Lanier’s water, saying a prior ruling by the federal appeals court in Washington had foreclosed the issue.

If Magnuson were to agree that that decision constituted a “final judgment,” this would give Georgia a second avenue of appeal. But on Monday, Magnuson refused to enter a final judgment.

Bert Brantley, a spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue, said Georgia will continue its appeals and said it’s up to the 11th Circuit to decide whether it will hear them.

“We can’t wait for three years and then appeal his ruling after what the judge even said would be a draconian result,” Brantley said. “The stakes are too high.”

Brantley expressed confidence that the 11th Circuit will decide that Magnuson’s order constitutes an injunction and that it will allow Georgia to appeal the separate issue over reallocation of Lake Lanier’s water.

Since Magnuson’s ruling in July, Perdue is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy: further appeals; negotiations with Alabama and Florida; asking Congress to pass legislation allowing the metro area to tap into Lake Lanier; and considering the construction of reservoirs and other contingency plans.

On Monday, Doug Tobin, press secretary for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said the state agrees with Magnuson’s ruling on Monday.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley also believes Magnuson was right, the governor’s spokesman, Todd Stacy, said. “It’s time for everyone to stop playing games and get back to the negotiating table,” he said.