Tri-state water dispute
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has regulated water flow for the entire Chattahoochee River, from Lake Lanier in Forsyth County, Georgia, to Alabama and Florida.
[1] Additional objectives for the dam included reducing flooding downriver during heavy rains and allowing for easier navigation on related Georgia waterways.
As Atlanta's population continued to grow from the time the dam was built, especially since the late 20th century, its consumption and need for water has grown.
[3] As a result of the COE's recommendation, Alabama filed a lawsuit in 1990 against Georgia and the Army Corps of Engineers, followed by the state of Florida later that year.
In its suit, Florida cited the critical effect of the dam's operations on endangered species and NEPA violations by the Corps of Engineers.
[5] Georgia had sued the Corps for wrongfully prohibiting Lake Lanier to be used for water consumption for metropolitan Atlanta, but a federal judge ruled that the project had not been authorized for that purpose.
[8] U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, brought in as a neutral arbiter, ruled in July 2009 that metropolitan Atlanta would be prohibited from taking water out of Lake Lanier for a three-year negotiation period to begin among the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
[12] In 2013, Florida filed an original action against Georgia in the Supreme Court of the United States, requesting equitable apportionment of waters in the ACF Basin.
On November 3, 2014, the Supreme Court granted Florida leave to file the complaint, and the case went before a special master before being argued on January 8, 2018.
[15] In August 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash dismissed the case, ruling that the Corps was within its powers to make a water supply assurance to Metro Atlanta and had satisfactorily considered the needs of Alabama and Florida.
The growth of Atlanta has also increased water consumption for maintaining lawns and golf courses, which other parties to the rivers do not want to support.
[19] Nathan Deal, Governor of Georgia in 2011, wanted to resolve the conflict with Alabama by finding new solutions to Atlanta's need for water.
[27] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed Lake Lanier under authorization and appropriations by Congress, and controls its flow of water for multiple purposes, so it is involved in the dispute.
[30] These two river basins are the habitat for countless numbers of fish and other aquatic life, which need a proper amount of water to thrive.
The Apalachicola Bay provides 35 percent of the freshwater flow to the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and it is vital to the richly productive estuaries in this region.
A reduced flow of fresh water into these estuaries would result in higher salinity levels, that could endanger the marine life, including that supporting major seafood industries.
