U.S. Water News Online
ALBANY, Ga. -- Georgia's two senators, Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, said they got a commitment from the Secretary of the Army that future releases from Chattahoochee River reservoirs -- including Lake Lanier, Atlanta's main source of drinking water -- will be based on science.
The two senators met with Army Secretary Francis Harvey to express concern about low water levels in the reservoirs at the start of what is expected to be a hot, dry summer.
Gov. Sonny Perdue told Harvey in a letter that unless the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scales back releases, the reservoirs "will be drawn down to their lowest level in recorded history." The Corps contends it must release more water to sustain endangered mussels and sturgeon downstream in Florida.
But Perdue said he didn't think the needs of endangered species should outweigh the drinking water needs of the 4.7 million people living in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
In a conference call with reporters, the senators said Harvey had directed the Corps to conduct an environmental study, a process that could take 18 to 24 months, to determine the full impact of the releases.
"We are not particularly happy in the direction the Corps has been going," Chambliss said.
Isakson said he and Chambliss had three requests: that the Corps reconfirm its commitment to the environmental study, that the Corps complete a new water control plan for the Chattahoochee River and that the Corps stop lowering reservoir levels without a sound scientific basis.
"Some releases earlier this year were not wholly scientifically based," Isakson said.
Georgia, Florida and Alabama have been wrangling since about 1990 for a fair share of water from the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river systems. Water is a critical natural resource, necessary to sustain life and economic growth.
The senators said federal officials want the governors of the three states to meet and bring an end to the tri-state water war.
"This is not a federal issue," said Chambliss. "This is an issue everyone in Washington wants to be settled by the three governors. I hope they'll meet soon and come to some conclusion."
Of the two basins, the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint seems to be the most hotly contested.
The Chattahoochee flows southwest from Atlanta to form the border between Georgia and Alabama. The Flint and Chattahoochee converge at Lake Seminole in extreme southwestern Georgia to become the Apalachicola River, which flows through the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico.
Mike Quiella, Isakson's senior legislative assistant, said the Corps is using an outdated water control plan to manage the Apalachicola, Flint and Chattahoochee rivers -- one that doesn't reflect the changes that have occurred over the past 20 years.
"Given the rapid growth in Georgia, Alabama and the obvious growth in the Florida Panhandle, the Corps needs updated data and updated studies," he said.
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