Water decision leaves metro Atlanta high and dry
Yesterday’s ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson, denying metro Atlanta access to water stored at Lake Lanier, leaves the metro region up the creek.
Let me be more specific: Up a bone-dry creek.
The potential impact of the decision is disastrous. Magnuson ruled that with the exception of Buford and Gainesville, the metro region has no right to withdraw water from Lake Lanier, and no right to store water there against future drought.
The state was given three years to get try to get Congress to alter its authorized purposes for Buford Dam. If it is unsuccessful, Magnuson ruled, “the operation of Buford Dam will return to the ‘baseline’ operation of the mid-1970s. Thus, the required off-peak flow will be 600 cfs and only Gainesville and Buford will be allowed to withdraw water from the lake. The Court recognizes that this is a draconian result. It is, however, the only result that recognizes how far the operation of the Buford project has strayed from the original authorization.”
At first blush, it’s likely that Gwinnett County would face drastic and immediate water shortages if that occurred. Its whole sewer and water infrastructure, and the bonded indebtedness that financed it, is predicated on access to Lake Lanier. The impact on the rest of metro Atlanta would be less immediate but severe, particularly in times of drought.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has pledged to appeal Magnuson’s decision, noting that “his conclusions rely on decades-old assumptions about the construction of federal reservoirs and the role those reservoirs play in providing water supply for growing states such as Georgia.” But that’s just the point. Those conclusions are indeed decades old and have never been updated by Congress, as the law requires. With that statement, Perdue essentially conceded that Magnuson’s ruling was legally correct.
To be blunt, the state’s entire strategic approach on this issue has been wrong-headed. It has made no effort to try to correct the problem through Congress and little effort to build consensus with its neighboring states of Alabama and Florida. It has instead based its entire strategy on winning in the courtroom, an approach that never seemed likely to succeed. Magnuson’s ruling is a thorough legal repudiation of Georgia’s argument, and an appeal seems unlikely to alter the outcome.
We are now left in the position of trying to negotiate a settlement in Congress, and we probably need the cooperation of our neighbors in Alabama and Florida to do so.
And frankly, kneeling on the ground and begging for your opponent’s pity is not exactly a strong negotiating position.
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293 comments Add your comment
TnGelding
July 18th, 2009
10:38 am
Well, with our strong congressional delegation I’m sure they’ll get something passed and throw in a couple of hundred F-22s to boot. If not, there’s always prayer. It worked last time.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 18th, 2009
10:39 am
All the years of unrestricted development with no planning for the future are coming home to roost.
getalife
July 18th, 2009
10:45 am
Time for Sonny to play the pray card or make a new lake.
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
10:46 am
Clearly, there is only one acceptable solution — blow the dam. I mean, if God had intended for us to be damning our water sources, he would have given us teeth for sawing down trees and a big mud paddle for a tail. Then again, maybe Monsanto should get into the business of bottling water. They could just scoop it up out of those rivers and streams over in Anniston and package it and ship it right on over here to Georgia.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 18th, 2009
10:55 am
OK, so I shot out his Saturday column.
Atlanta a loser in water wars! A federal judge on Friday ruled that Atlanta has no right to the waters of Lake Lanier, blah, blah-Urinal
Um, Atlanta doesn’t draw water from Lake Lanier, duh.
They get it from the Hooch.
And if a judge “shuts off the tap” as you so gleefully assume that he can, then he chokes off Florida and Bama at the same time.
Study up on it, learn something, y’all.
Am I getting good or what?
UPDATE #1- Let’s shut off the tap to Grady first, hehehehe.
How silly.
RW-(the original)
July 18th, 2009
11:05 am
So let’s play make believe and pretend that everybody but Buford and Gainesville gets cut off. Are they allowed to start selling water?
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
11:08 am
They aren’t talking about shutting off any taps. They’re talking about opening them up, as in storing water in Lanier per its original intent — for Gainesville and Buford. Gwinnett, that bastion of Republicanism, is the county that likely has the most to lose. They invested a small fortune in sewage infrastructure that incorporates Lake Lanier as a mission critical component. Clearly, there’s been a problem with communications and planning and logistics and compromise, etc., and this red state’s lack of leadership is at the heart of it all.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 18th, 2009
11:09 am
I was gonna suggest that Sonny Purdue shut off water service to the courthouse where this little freak is hiding but research discovered that he is ruling from Minne freaking sota.
How many klowns do they have in that state?
TnGelding
July 18th, 2009
11:15 am
Did the best we could?
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/pacificaviet/cronkitevietnam.html
RIP WALTER CRONKITE.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 18th, 2009
11:15 am
Bust Me- Not true. Gwinnet built a state of the art sewage treatment facility with the full backing and support of environmentalists, spending three to four times more than they could have under normal Georgia EPD discharge permitting rules. This plant of theirs would have put water back into Lanier that is cleaner than what is already in the lake.
But of course, the environmental terrorists moved the goal posts, and like any good democrat, stabbed the tax payers in the back.
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
11:22 am
That ‘bottom line’ from the judge requiring some legislation at the fed level is really the coolest part of the entire story though. I wonder if those Georgia boys will try sitting around in Congress in the dark until they get the legislation that they demand. Perhaps Hannity and Limbaugh can provide 24/7 coverage while the lights are out and Hannity might even manage to piece together enough soundbites to blame it all on Obama. Then again, maybe the entire Georgia delegation should change parties so they’ll have the majority on their side. All the possibilities are far too humorous to list.
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
11:25 am
And those ‘environmentalists’ have what authority over that fed legislation defining the purpose of Lake Lanier?
Dusty
July 18th, 2009
11:26 am
Let me get this straight.on the water law for Buford Dam which stops water to fill Lake Lanier.
The federal judge made a judgment based on established law designated for Buford Dam.. (Not empathy!)
US Congress alone can change this law (True.)
Georgia tried for THREE years to get this law changed by Congress so GA would have extra water.. (Good move.)
Congress did not bother to change the law for more water to GA. (Democrats lead Congress, Bad move.)
Georgia has only one other step it can take. Ask the Fed judge to change his mind.(No can do! It’s the law.))
The next step? Water conservation or rationing such as NO private swimming pools, NO underground landscape or golf course water lines, NO non-conserve car washes, and limited growth of homebuilding in water shortage areas. ACT like there is a water shortage.
If you do not like any of these “restrictions’ then decide: DO YOU WANT WATER TO DRINK OR NOT? That is the question. And don’t blame the governor of Georgia who has bee asking Congress to move it and they did not. Blame your Congress led by Democrats. (Or maybe I should follow up with a rephrased old blame refrain:”Obama did it!”)
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
11:36 am
Yep, our Georgia delegation should take the Dusty approach. Sit around and pout and say no to compromise and blame your problems on someone else. Wait a minute, so what would they being doing differently.
Rose
July 18th, 2009
11:39 am
Are we going to get any sympathy on the hill when our governor has not even cooperated in accepting the bail out relief money to help Georgians and the rest of the economy? With the Republicans acting like the Palestinians against Israel, can we really get any cooperation? The time for cooperation is before a crisis. Our governor has doomed our state with his “suicide” Republican partisanship. When Santa Clause is passing out presents, you don’t act naughty on principle. Now that we need something, we may find out that Santa is a lot of men in congress who don’t like spoiled brats.
David Hooton
July 18th, 2009
11:41 am
A look back at how things have been
http://www.squidoo.com/visitLakeLanier
@@
July 18th, 2009
11:41 am
There’s them that know how and them that don’t.
A dream thirty years in the making. My water bill minus sewer service is never more than $24.00 a month. Usually $16.00.
Dusty
July 18th, 2009
11:46 am
Trust me, dear Democrat,
I made some suggestions in my post. You did not.
And what were the compromises that no one would accept?
Do you live in Georgia or somewhere else as it seems it is MY problem alone, not yours.
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
11:47 am
Tell me it ain’t so. That Democratic Party stronghold, Clayton County, did one thing that @@ approves of. Remember, don’t flush those leftover prescriptions down the toilet and try to get the police to spread the word that flushing meth and other illegal drugs down the toilet is also a bad thing to do. They should just swallow it all.
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
11:54 am
What’s wrong Dusty. You sound upset by my statements regarding our Georgia delegation. They did just sit around in the dark demanding to have their way. And, they are still on this kick of non-compromise and doing nothing and other such nonsense. Feel free to read the documentation if you wish to learn more about the talks between the states and about Gwinnett’s involvement, etc. Google works just fine. Finally, I do live in Georgia so I suppose that does make it my problem, not just yours.
@@
July 18th, 2009
11:55 am
Trust me:
It was “good ol’ boy” democrats that sought vision 30 YEARS AGO. You know…some of them yellow dogs like Zell Miller. Our Water Authority team is a very exclusive lot, they are. They were set up as a separate entity protecting its operations from local politicians.
Like I said. Some know how it’s done and some don’t.
Bosch
July 18th, 2009
12:03 pm
Oh well, I’ve got water, so what’s the big deal? Sounds to me like you people didn’t work hard enough to deserve any water. More government intervention, tsk, tsk, tak. Can’t the free market work this out? Maybe like someone mentioned Gainesville can just sell the water to you folks down in Atlanta. Sounds reasonable to me.
Hehehehe. It’s fun being snarky on Saturdays.
deegee
July 18th, 2009
12:07 pm
Judge Magnuson correctly assigns responsibility in his decision, see below. BTW, the water war between Florida, Alabama and Georgia has been going on for 20 years. The politically impotent congressman whose district includes Lake Lanier is running for governor of Georgia. That would be (R) Nathan Deal.
“Too often,” Magnuson wrote, “state, local and even national government actors do not consider the long-term consequences of their decisions. Local governments allow unchecked growth because it increases tax revenue, but these same governments do not sufficiently plan for the resources such unchecked growth will require.”
Nor do individual citizens consider frequently enough their own water consumption, absent a crisis such as the recent drought, the judge said.
“The problems faced in the ACF basin will continue to be repeated throughout this country, as the population grows and more undeveloped land is developed,” Magnuson said. “Only by cooperating, planning and conserving can we avoid the situations that gave rise to this litigation.”
Dusty
July 18th, 2009
12:08 pm
@@
That was a fine article you posted. Glad to hear that Clayton County has done so well with water (if not education). If we could leave some of these decisions to “water professionals” we might be in better shape. I hope all Georga counties are paying attention and those in Alabama and Florida also.
Sounds like Democrats had some good ideas about 30 years ago when people like Zell had power. WONDER WHAT HAPPENED?
Dusty
July 18th, 2009
12:17 pm
Dear Bosch,
Glad to see you here all perky this morning. I hope your stomach is OK now (if not your head!).
To make you feel even better, the Braves beat the Mets last night 11-0 before an enthusiastic crowd of fifty thousand people. Forget soccer. It’s the BRAVES!!
Jay
July 18th, 2009
12:17 pm
Dusty, the problem with your scenario is that Ga’s congressional delegation has NOT tried to address the issue through legislation.
They have proposed no bills, built no coalitions — as far as I know, they have done NOTHING to try to fix the problem other than try to pressure federal bureaucrats to rule in Georgia’s favor. While that’s valuable as far as it goes, it really isn’t a good strategy when the problem is the basic law itself.
Rose
July 18th, 2009
12:19 pm
Wonder What Happened? The same thing that happened with Bush. There was recent evidence that Bush knew the economy was headed for a bust way back in 2001. Republicans had complete control and did nothing to prevent it except pass more tax relief for the rich. The way I found out about it was an email bragging that Bush knew back then and that he wasn’t as dumb as everyone was saying he was. Go figure. Not everyone was working on the “unnecessary war” that was making the industrialists billionaires, or were they?
Bernie Madoff
July 18th, 2009
12:26 pm
I got a lake I could sell you.
Bear Stearns
July 18th, 2009
12:44 pm
I got lake derivatives to sell you.
@@
July 18th, 2009
12:45 pm
So jay….how’s your site looking from where you’re viewing it….operationally speaking, that is?
Kinda sux, don’tcha think?
Now you see it! Now you don’t! Then some will but others won’t.
Dusty
July 18th, 2009
12:45 pm
Well, Jay Bookman, I don’t claim to be an expert on water liegislation. Could it be that our Georgia delegation felt that it would be a waste of time to set up a law changing bill proposal brought forth by Georgians? That their best chance was to get a beaurocrat to read the law in a different way? Did Florida and Alabama representatives design any water bills for an unresponsive Democratic led Congress? I doubt it.
You see things only through a Democratic lens. I see things through a Republican lens. I guess we both try to be honest. I cringe everytime I read about the recent output of Congress which seems to be blind, not only to debt but with no conception of their citizens’ common sense . That, with a spendthrift president who neither worries about debt nor water, makes me even more conservative.
DoggoneGA
July 18th, 2009
12:51 pm
“That their best chance was to get a beaurocrat to read the law in a different way? ”
This sounds a LOT like asking a judge to LEGISLATE from the bench. I thought the conned were against that. Or is it a case of “it’s OK if you’re a Republican”?
Kamchak
July 18th, 2009
12:56 pm
Water problems and traffic problems come from the same source—no regional planning for thirty years. Buy the cheapest land north of I-285. Build here, build now, take the profits and run.
Bosch
July 18th, 2009
12:59 pm
deegee,
You hit the nail on the head. If you don’t have the resources to build, you don’t build. Unfortunately the GOP doesn’t understand this – it’s all about the $$$. Who cares if the people living in the multi-billion subdivision – money pocketed by the developers – don’t have water to drink. I guess they should have done their homework ahead of time.
People throughout the ages have known this. Where are the oldest towns in this country and world? Where is Baghdad where many think civilization began? Near the Tigris and Euphrates. They are near the water. Duh.
During the last election, my one question to any local person running was – What are your plans for development in relation to our water? If they couldn’t answer (which none but two could [guess which party the ones that couldn't answer were]), I told them I was sorry, they would not get my vote.
Dusty,
Thanks! Last week was weird – been contemplating my mortality a lot the past couple of days, and getting my will updated just in case. We’ll see how things turn out in the next few weeks after more tests. Hopefully I’m doing this for the far future. I’m just super duper glad I’ve got good insurance. Funny thing, I told my doctor Thursday, can’t we do these tests sooner? He said, well, you know it’s hard to get a specialist to do things immediately because they are booked up. So much for having to wait under socialized medicine huh?
Joey
July 18th, 2009
12:59 pm
What those evil Repulicans in Gwinnett have done to Lanier’s water:
Gwinnett returns (pumps) 40mgpd back to Lanier. Gwinnett is the only user downstream of the Buford Dam that returns any water to Lanier. As a reward for that effort Zell Miller’s North Georgia Water Authority (not the exact name) decided that Gwinnett would be the only user downstream of the Dam that would not be allowed to discharge any treated water into the Chattahoochee.
We will soon be bombarded with demands that the metro area must conserve water. I agree. These demands to conserve will be about reducing the amount of water we use and only that. Expect every environmental group to push this issue. However, reducing consumption is only one place on the water cycle where conservation measure must be increased.
When ever rains come most of the runoff leaves the metro area unchecked. Conservation begins, or should begin, when and where the rain falls. We need more dams and reservoirs all over the metro area. Look for the environmental groups, the EPA and likely the AJC Editorial Board to oppose any new dam.
josef nix
July 18th, 2009
1:00 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe–
“All the years of unrestricted development with no planning for the future are coming home to roost.”
Hillbilly has hit the proverbial nail on its proverbial head. Though not a native Atlantan, I have lived here longer than more than half the people on the Darlington sign. I have watched for decades as the developers put up development after development spreading out like kudzu in all directions gobbling up any and everything idigenous that got in its way, each and every development yet another sign that “the Phoenix city” was the Mecca and role model for the “New and Improved South.” I learned to give directions from “what used to be there.” I watched as our ever so “proud” African American “leadership” came in and destroyed the Piney Grove settlement, the oldest extant Freedman’s settlement in Atlanta, to put in that ecological disaster, the Georgia-400-I-85 interchange, so that the white boys of the “elite” northern suburbs could more easily come into town to do their “bidness.” I’ve watched as old, established neighborhoods are razed and high rises put up. I’ve watched as “international” Atlanta bulldozed the city’s oldest international neighborhood, its inhabitants sent packing in scenes reminiscent of Kossovo–and that’s no hyperbole. Instead of confronting the problems of infrastructure unable to sustain the growth, the cheerleaders just kept on with their rah-rah. And now, like some malicious hydra, the problems, caused by, and pointed out to, “Atlanta” have reached out to not only that suburban blight from but has spread its tentacles to two neighboring states. Now comes a pack of latter-day Cassandras with their Pittypat cries of “I just cain’t cope” and “Yankees in Georgia, however did they get in.”
We invited them. We gave them whatever they wanted, just come on down and spend your greenbacks. Well, progress, ain’t it grand?
Jay
July 18th, 2009
1:08 pm
Actually, Dusty, the delegations of both Alabama and Florida DID try to use Congress to their advantage. Sen. Shelby of Alabama tried repeatedly to insert legislation to benefit his state at Georgia’s expense, some of which passed, and Florida congressmen pushed hard to finance a scientific study of the watershed, a step that Georgia’s delegation supported only belatedly and that was passed into law by a Democratic Congress.
But what’s really interesting is your song and dance on this issue. Initially, you claimed that Ga.’s delegation had tried hard to work through Congress but had been stymied by Democrats. You wrote:
“Georgia tried for THREE years to get this law changed by Congress so GA would have extra water.. (Good move.)
Congress did not bother to change the law for more water to GA. (Democrats lead Congress, Bad move.)”
Clearly, you made that claim with no knowledge whatsoever. You knew who you wanted to cast as the villain — the Democrats — so you invented a set of facts that would allow you to confirm your conclusion.
Now, challenged on that invention, you turn it around. Suddenly, the Ga. delegation did NOTHING to try to act through Congress, but in your world that too is now the fault of the Democrats.
Yes, we all see things through our own perspectives. But a basic respect for the facts would be nice, don’t you think?
Brandon
July 18th, 2009
1:18 pm
Come on fellas! I don’t have too much knowledge of this water and sewage subject but I am reading this comments in hopes of being “enlightened” All I see is a bunch of finger pointing and red vs blue. We are all people before any political affiliations and we all require water. Seriously, what are our options, and what can I expect to see in our near future?
david wayne osedach
July 18th, 2009
1:19 pm
In some parts of this country you can only water your lawn every other week. Picture that coming to Atlanta!
Joey
July 18th, 2009
1:20 pm
Even though I began my 12:59 with a defense of Gwinnett’s Republicans government, that was in response to an earlier attack on Gwinnett’s Republicans by another poster.
Truth is that Lanier’s water is not a political party issue. All of metro Atlanta will be impacted.
josef nix
July 18th, 2009
1:25 pm
JAY–weren’t you in Seattle when it faced a similar problem? Any comparisons and any lessons to be drawn from their experience?
Normal
July 18th, 2009
1:27 pm
Any comparisons and any lessons to be drawn from their experience?
————–
YEAH, Don’t drink the water!!! Water bad, wine good.
josef nix
July 18th, 2009
1:29 pm
Hey Normal…you know what W.C. Fields said, “Drink water? Stuff’s nasty. Fish f in it!”
@@
July 18th, 2009
1:29 pm
Seriously, what are our options, and what can I expect to see in our near future?
Xeriscaping?
josef nix
July 18th, 2009
1:32 pm
@@–seriously? Well, Pesky Savage Unmentionable says that not to worry, M-ther Nat-re’ll take care of things.
Normal
July 18th, 2009
1:34 pm
JOSEF, Yeah, I was trying to remember that quote…but oldtimers forget.
Normal
July 18th, 2009
1:34 pm
Well, back out chasing turtles…
Bosch
July 18th, 2009
1:34 pm
Sad thing is, most people don’t see water issues as a problem because they can turn on their faucets and it still comes out. Same with electricity and other energy commodities
“My electricity still works and I can afford it, same with gas!” So no problem, right?
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
1:36 pm
I see things through a Republican lens.
You need some lense cleaner, Dusty.
Trust me
July 18th, 2009
1:43 pm
Joey,
Even though I began my 12:59 with a defense of Gwinnett’s Republicans government, that was in response to an earlier attack on Gwinnett’s Republicans by another poster…
Which earlier attack would you be referring to?