Georgia has own water war with downriver communities

“If we get to squabbling among family members here, people are willing to take [the Chattahoochee] away from all of us,” Perdue told 200 people at Columbus Technical College. “This is a Georgia family issue.”

Years of downstream mistrust and jealousy toward Atlanta complicate Perdue’s task. Many southwest Georgia communities have more in common with Florida and Alabama than Atlanta. Columbus, like the two states, has sued to guarantee a steady flow of the Chattahoochee.

Albany and neighboring farmers who depend upon the Flint River, which meets the Chattahoochee near Bainbridge, worry that Perdue will sacrifice them to appease Florida.

And LaGrange fears Perdue will give up West Point Lake to safeguard Lake Lanier.

“Many folks refer to West Point Lake as the eye of the storm. We get pulled by the water demand from the south — Columbus, major industries, Florida — and pulled by metro Atlanta to the north,” said Joe Maltese, a semi-retiree who sails the lake. “We worry about our corner of the world getting sold down the river.”

Corps in charge

Maltese, who consults for the city of LaGrange, and Dick Timmerberg, executive director of the West Point Lake Coalition, had the reservoir almost to themselves one recent afternoon. Like Lanier, about 115 miles north, West Point is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Unlike Lanier, trees encircling the 25,900-acre lake obscure most houses along the shore.

Congress authorized West Point for flood control, hydroelectric power, navigation, fish and wildlife development and general recreation. Lanier, too, is authorized for flood control, navigation and hydroelectric power. But the Corps allows millions of gallons daily to flow from Lanier to Atlanta faucets, toilets and hoses — uses not intended by Congress.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled last month that Atlanta illegally taps Lanier for drinking water, and he gave Georgia three years to persuade Congress to add water consumption as an authorized use.

Any negotiation must include Florida and Alabama, which sued the Corps in 1990 for allowing Atlanta to take the water.

“It’s an unfortunate ruling Magnuson gave Atlanta,” said LaGrange Mayor Jeff Lukken. “But if there was a silver lining, the court reaffirmed the sanctity of congressional authorization purposes. We want a set of rules we all can play by.”

‘Workhorse’ lake

West Point Lake fuels the region’s economy. It’s Troup County’s biggest tourist attraction.

At 635 feet above mean sea level — full pool — the lake funnels $535 million a year directly into the region’s economy, according to a 2007 study commissioned by LaGrange and others. At 630 feet, the lake contributes only $126 million a year.

2007 was a bad year. In October, the lake dropped to 622 feet. Miles of muddy lake shore were exposed. Boats ran aground. A major bass fishing tournament was canceled.

The drought was largely to blame. But Maltese, Timmerberg and others also fault the federal government for establishing an “artificial flow” at the Florida state line. Billions of gallons of water were released downstream for the benefit of endangered mussels in Apalachicola Bay.

Lanier, too, was hit hard that summer. But West Point, in the words of the Corps’ Brig. Gen. Joseph Schroedel (retired), is the Chattahoochee’s “workhorse.”

Mark Crisp, an engineering consultant for LaGrange and the lake coalition, likens West Point instead to a “mistreated sway-backed nag.”

“The Corps looks at West Point, in effect, to solve the Chattahoochee’s problems,” said Crisp, managing consultant with C.H. Guernsey & Co. in Atlanta. “West Point has been bounced up and down like a yo-yo during drought conditions. That’s punitive to West Point, relative to other reservoirs.”

Columbus suit

Columbus and its water authority sued the Corps two summers ago to guarantee a steady flow of water to treat the city’s wastewater. The city seeks an average daily flow of 1,350 cubic feet per second (CFS); it is currently permitted to draw 1,150 CFS. The additional water, according to Billy Turner, former president of the Columbus Water Works, would accommodate the city’s future development.

“We hope to have a little growth in Columbus just like Atlanta hopes to have in the future,” said Turner, who still advises the water authority.

Upriver critics say Columbus wants more water to avoid paying tens of millions of dollars for a new wastewater treatment plant.

“Downstream people have to accept what the lake is authorized for — and that’s not wastewater assimilation,” said the lake coalition’s Timmerberg.

LaGrange and Troup County filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Corps to keep Columbus from grabbing more water. Perdue appears to side with the West Point community.

“Columbus needs wastewater treatment regardless if you’ve got 5,000 CFS,” the governor told Turner at the Technical College. Turner said the lawsuit ensures Columbus will be a player in any deal among Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Georgia Rep. Debbie Buckner, a Democrat from nearby Junction City, worries Perdue will sacrifice Columbus for Atlanta’s future growth.

“There’s a whole issue of trust and fairness,” she said. “Columbus, LaGrange and West Point all need some assurances.”

Perdue is viewed by many downstream Georgians as Atlanta’s enabler, allowing the city’s developers and businesses to suck the river dry to support the metro area’s unbridled growth.

Bob Kerr, Georgia’s chief water war negotiator from 1998 to 2004, has said West Point Lake will receive less water over the next 50 years due to Atlanta’s needs.

In 2003, when details of an almost-concluded water deal leaked out, West Point Lake was again left high and dry.

West Point vs. Lanier

Years of water-war negotiations had seemingly come to fruition when Alec Poitevint, the federal commissioner who shepherded the talks, laid out the plan to the governors of Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

In an April 2003 letter Poitevint stressed that the water flow models, charts and assumptions remained “a work in progress.” But it was the most detailed plan ever published.

The Corps has long established a base minimum flow from West Point Lake. During normal times, when the lake sits at 635 feet, that flow is easily met.

In drought, though, West Point struggles to reach that level. In the summer of 2007, for example, the lake dropped below 622 feet.

Under the proposed model, West Point would have been required to send nearly double the normal flow of water downstream — at a time when the lake was already depleted.

“Recreation, sport fishing and all congressionally authorized uses would’ve been totally gone,” Maltese said. “They would’ve destroyed the lake to satisfy some flow downstream.”

Crisp, the engineer, said West Point’s pain would’ve been Lanier’s gain.

“Theoretically, metro Atlanta would get the water they needed out of Lanier and flows across the state line would’ve sufficed for Florida’s needs,” he said.

Lisa Coghlan, a Corps spokeswoman, said the Corps has always been a “neutral party” in the water war talks and that Lanier has never been favored over West Point.

Feelings of mistrust remain as Perdue again tries to broker a water-sharing deal with Florida and Alabama.

In Columbus, the governor sought to convince locals that their best interests lie with Georgia, not neighbors Florida and Alabama.

“All of the reservoirs will be drawn down if Florida wins,” Perdue said. “Everybody will be vulnerable: middle Chattahoochee users and farmers in southwest Georgia as well.”

Mayor Lukken asked for an assurance that any deal would not slash West Point Lake levels.

“If the Corps chooses to open it up and let all of the water out, there is nothing I could do about it,” Perdue responded. “I guess I could call the National Guard.”

Later, Lukken said, “He’s got to take care of all of the state’s interests and he can’t satisfy everybody. I too hope we talk as one family when it comes to Alabama and Florida.”