Environmental groups map course to settle state's water wars

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A consortium of Georgia environmental groups announced Thursday a strategy they say will help the next governor settle a 20-year battle with Florida and Alabama over the state's water resources.

Members of the Upper Chattahoochee, Flint and Coosa Riverkeeper organizations called on the state's gubernatorial candidates to change course and get the issue resolved before metro Atlanta loses its primary source of water. Georgia is under a court mandate to either reach an agreement over downstream flows with its two neighbors or lose access to Lake Lanier as major water source.

At a news conference in Atlanta Thursday, Sally Bethea, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper executive director, said all seven Georgia Riverkeeper organizations have joined to endorse the new plan. It calls for more openness in negotiations, aggressive conservation measures and respect for all downstream communities.

The Georgia Riverkeepers are composed of more than 1,000 people interested in protecting the integrity of the state's streams, Bethea said.

"Based on decades of experience protecting Georgia's waterways, we believe Georgia and its neighbors can reach a mutually beneficial water-sharing agreement without sacrificing our communities or the rivers they depend upon," said Gordon Rogers of Albany, Flint Riverkeeper executive director.

Rogers said many of the concerns raised by Florida and Alabama are the same concerns found in rural Georgia.  He said a new approach demonstrating respect for all downstream communities would go a long way toward a resolution.

The group said it does not intend to endorse candidates, but it does plan to get gubernatorial hopefuls to weigh in on the new strategy.