Perdue hails latest ruling in water wars

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Sonny Perdue on Thursday hailed a federal court ruling rejecting Florida's efforts to secure higher downstream flows.

The ruling, issued Wednesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, rejected arguments by Florida in a tri-state water dispute to allow the Endangered Species Act to be used to dictate water flow into the Apalachicola River.

"Any kind of higher guaranteed flow for Florida would have put a strain on Georgia communities up and down the Chattahoochee River," Perdue said in a statement. "We always felt the use of the Endangered Species Act was just a ruse to try and wring more water out of Georgia."

Perdue said the ruling should allow Georgia, Florida and Alabama to continue meaningful talks.

Negotiations between the three states over downstream flows have been held in secret since January, when Magnuson granted a request by the states to conduct the meetings in private. Georgia has two more years to hammer out a deal, or its access to Lake Lanier for metro Atlanta's water supply will be reduced to 1970 levels.

For years, Florida has insisted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls Lake Lanier, should be required to send an increased amount of water from Georgia down the Chattahoochee River to support the gulf sturgeon and two species of mussels. But in Wednesday's ruling, Magnuson sided with Georgia in stating the corps should consider water supply from Lanier in future analysis of needs in the river basins.

"With this ruling in hand, it is time for the three governors to come back together at the negotiating table and continue our ongoing efforts to finally reach a water-sharing agreement that benefits all three states," Perdue said. "We stand ready and willing to engage at the earliest opportunity possible.”

The judge's ruling also scolded the corps for violating the National Environmental Policy Act by assembling its current plan to operate Lake Lanier without proper environmental analysis. But the judge said that because the operating plan expires in 2012, the corps does not need to correct the matter at this late date.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a statement Thursday saying the state has long sought to force the corps to evaluate its reservoir operations by preparing an environmental impact statement.

Florida has 60 days to appeal the judge's order and will be reviewing it in greater detail to determine the appropriate course of action, said Dee Ann Miller, a spokeswoman for the Florida environmental agency.

The Alabama governor's office did not respond to requests for comment.

But Sally Bethea, the executive director of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, said the ruling sends a clear message. Georgia's seven Riverkeeper organizations represent more than 10,000 residents interested in protecting the integrity of the state's streams.

"Using the force of existing law, Judge Magnuson is narrowing the options of all parties in the interest of securing a water-sharing agreement," she said. "We believe this ruling is more evidence that Judge Magnuson intends to push all the parties -- feds and state -- to abide by the law and give before they get."