Riley, King declare win with water war ruling

Staff Reports

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Alabama has won what Alabama Attorney General Troy King called "a major victory" in the 18-year-old water war.

In 2003, the state of Georgia, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Atlanta-area municipalities entered into a secret agreement reallocating a significant portion of Lake Lanier, a federal reservoir near Atlanta, for Atlanta's water supply.  The agreement would have resulted in far less water in the Chattahoochee River flowing to Alabama.

Alabama immediately challenged the agreement, arguing that only Congress had the power to change the allocation of a federal reservoir. A federal district court in Washington approved the agreement, and Alabama appealed.

The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday agreed with Alabama and threw out the agreement.

"This is a milestone victory for Alabama in the water war litigation," said King in a statement released Tuesday morning.  "Alabama has maintained for two decades that Georgia was taking too much of the water in the Chattahoochee River, and today's ruling confirms that Alabama was correct."

"This ruling sends a strong message to Atlanta that its effort to grab Alabama's water will not succeed," said King.  "Hopefully this will bring Georgia to the bargaining table to engage in fair discussions about how we can share this vital natural resource. Alabamians may take heart, we will not rest until our state’s right to its fair share of water is secure."

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley also hailed the ruling.

“This is the most consequential legal ruling in the 18-year history of the water war, and one of the most important in the history of the State of Alabama,” said Riley.  “The ruling invalidates the massive water grab that Georgia tried to pull off.”

He continued: “The ruling will have far reaching consequences. It establishes that the decades-old practice of Atlanta taking more and more water from the federal reservoirs in the Coosa and Chattahoochee Rivers without any legal authority to do so will not stand.”

Alabama is currently engaged in discussions with Georgia and Florida to reach a negotiated solution to the interstate water dispute.

“I hope this ruling will enhance the prospects for a fair and equitable deal among the three states,” said Riley.  “The secret agreement that the appellate court threw out today had been a major stumbling block for the last five years in our efforts to work out a reasonable sharing deal for this precious resource.”