October 2007
U.S. Water News Online
WASHINGTON -- Georgia's congressional delegation has proposed legislation aimed at replenishing Georgia's shrinking water supply by suspending Endangered Species Act regulations during periods of extreme drought.
The bill would apply nationally, but Georgia lawmakers particularly hoped to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' practice of releasing water from Georgia lakes to protect threatened mussels and sturgeon downstream in Florida.
The bill will probably face strong resistance if it advances. But in a rare show of bipartisan unity, Georgia's lawmakers rallied around it as a "common sense" solution to the state's persistent drought.
Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Moultrie said Georgia's water is being restricted to "protect a handful of mussels and sturgeon," leading people to wonder whether Congress cares more about animals than human beings.
"This is a crisis," added Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat.
Georgia, Florida and Alabama have been fighting for nearly two decades over water rights from two river basins in the region.
A key point in the dispute is how much water the Corps releases from reservoirs such as Lake Lanier outside Atlanta to ensure downstream habitats for rare species of freshwater mussels and Gulf sturgeon, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Water levels at Lake Lanier are down dramatically, and without rain, climatologists say the water source for more than 3 million people could run dry in just three months. Georgia officials, including Gov. Sonny Perdue, have insisted the Corps slow or stop the release of water until Lanier and other lakes are replenished.
But Florida has argued that the Corps is still not releasing enough water to keep the endangered and threatened species from dying. And Alabama says it needs continued flows to meet industrial needs, including for a nuclear power plant in the southeastern corner of the state.
The Georgia bill would allow states to win exemptions from Endangered Species Act protections when the secretary of the army or a governor declares that drought conditions are threatening human health, safety and welfare.
Nicole Cordan, policy and legal director of Save Our Wild Salmon in Portland, Ore., said similar attempts to scale back the Endangered Species Act have failed because the law already has safeguards to protect against unwarranted economic harm.
"It's good to remember why this country enacted the Endangered Species Act into law," she said. "We did it because we were allowing economic and development interests to trump the protection of species on this planet and that was harming us. These species are the canaries in the coal mine."
David Pope, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, agreed that the decision should not be narrowly viewed as affecting just a few mussels or fish.
"It's obviously important to protect people and to protect our economy, but the long-term consequences have to be examined," he said. "Maintaining the health of our ecosystem is essential to maintaining the well-being of our people and our economy."
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields