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Water
negotiations dip into ACT Basin with Alabama court case
By
Pamela A. Keene
A federal court hearing in mid-August in a Birmingham
courtroom may further hinder Georgia’s ability to withdraw water
from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ lakes in the state.
On Monday, August 16, US District Court Judge Karon
Bowdre met with attorneys in the case to set a timetable for hearing
testimony in the case between Alabama and Georgia about the issue.
Her decision, which is expected sometime next year, may determine
whether Georgia can withdraw water from Allatoona Lake as part of
the Allatoona Coosa Tallapoosa basin.
The legal wranglings are reminiscent of the mid-July
decision by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson in which he
ruled that the region’s withdrawals from Lake Lanier are illegal.
Allatoona Lake and Lake Lanier both currently provide
drinking water for nearly 4.5 million people in Atlanta. With the
ruling in July by Judge Magnuson, Georgia, Alabama and Florida have
been given three years to resolve this issue.
His ruling that drinking water was not an original
authorized purpose for the creation of Lanier and Buford Dam could
cripple Atlanta. It is the latest event in the 20-year ongoing water
negotiations between the three states.
Alabama officials are challenging the Corps’
authority in the way it manages lakes in Georgia that provide water
downstream, citing that supplying drinking water was not an original
authorized purpose of the Lanier and Allatoona reservoirs.
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