Lake Lanier water decision: Timeline

By Staff reports

For the AJC

1990: Alabama files a federal suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop the corps from giving metro Atlanta more water from Lake Lanier. Alabama and Florida say Congress established only three purposes for the federal reservoir: to control floods, float barges downstream and generate power. Florida wants enough water to flow from Lanier into the Apalachicola Bay to provide a healthy environment for federally protected fish and mussel species, and to maintain its oyster harvest. Alabama wants enough water to maintain the operation of a nuclear power plant.

July 2009: U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson rules that it is illegal for the Corps of Engineers to draw water from Lake Lanier to meet metro Atlanta's needs. Magnuson says the corps can draw water for metro Atlanta at current levels for three years; after that, unless a political solution is reached either through negotiations with Alabama and Florida or through an act of Congress, the metro area will have to find water elsewhere.

April 2010: Georgia appeals Magnuson's ruling.

June 2010: Gov. Sonny Perdue signs legislation designed to conserve water and help settle the dispute with Alabama and Florida. The new law bans nearly all outdoor watering from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and requires high-efficiency fixtures for all new construction after July 1, 2012.

Jan. 12: Gov. Nathan Deal sets aside $46 million in bonds to push new regional reservoirs. It is the first installment of a promised $300 million over four years for reservoir development.

March 9: Hearing on Georgia's appeal before the federal appeals court in Atlanta.

March 10: Three judges for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared inclined to settle the issue by sending the case back to the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Buford Dam.

June 28: The federal appeals court handed Georgia a victory in the tri-state water litigation.