Another View: Lanier water vital to the region

By Chick Krautler

With the stroke of a pen, a Minnesota judge has put the future of Georgia and metro Atlanta in jeopardy by ruling that water supply is not a designated purpose of Lake Lanier. While drinking water for 3.5 million metro Atlantans is directly affected, the ripple effect of negative economic and environmental impacts will be felt by all 10.2 million Georgians and much of the Southeast, including Alabama and Florida.

The judge’s order has nothing to do with finding the appropriate balance among competing uses in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin. Rather, the ruling was decided entirely on the judge’s interpretation of an act of Congress written in 1946.

The Chattahoochee River is the lifeblood of metro Atlanta and North Georgia, and we’ve worked hard to be good stewards of this precious resource. Georgia legislation enacted 35 years ago establishes a protective buffer of 2,000 feet on either side of the Chattahoochee, for 84 miles downstream from Buford Dam.

For decades, the Atlanta region has turned away big water-using industries. The 2004 State Drought Management Plan resulted in as much as a 25 percent decline in water use during the recent drought. Metro Atlanta’s water utilities and local governments are implementing an array of water conservation measures including toilet retrofits, tiered pricing, programs to reduce system leaks and more. These efforts are among the most aggressive in the Southeast.

Since Lake Lanier was built, the Atlanta region’s operating premise towards water resources has been to reasonably use it, clean it to high levels and return as much as possible for other’s use downstream. In fact, metro Atlanta’s use of this river system represents less than 2 percent of the river flow at the Florida line, even during drought. Where’s the big straw some have referred to?

Hydrology studies have, in fact, concluded that there is ample water in this system for metro Atlanta and all downstream users if properly managed and if all users conserve. The truth is, this is a critical resource for our metro area, state and for other users in the system — but we believe a fair and equitable management plan is achievable.

Governor Perdue has said emphatically that the July 17 court ruling, if allowed to stand, has serious implications for Georgia and the Southeast, due to its draconian and precedent-setting nature. We stand ready to support our governor to reach a negotiated settlement that respects the reasonable needs of all users in this river system.

But, ultimately and swiftly, we need Congress to recognize modern-day realities of our state and region and add water supply to the primary, authorized purposes of Lake Lanier.

Chick Krautler is director of the Atlanta Regional Commission