Tri-State Water Conflict

Recent Developments

On June 28, 2011, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a 2009 lower court decision that denied metro Atlanta access to Lake Lanier for water supply. The court ruled that water supply is an authorized purpose of Lanier, on par with hydropower, navigation, and flood control.

The appellate panel also vacated the 2012 deadline imposed by district court Judge Paul Magnuson which would have required Georgia to secure approval from Congress to use Lanier for water supply and then reach a water sharing agreement with Alabama and Florida.

The panel has given the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) just one year to determine how it will operate Lanier to meet water supply and the other authorized purposes.

History of the Dispute

For the last 20 years, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida have waged a legal war, known as the Tri-State Water War, over the use of water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin stemming largely from the Corps’ operation of Lanier’s Buford Dam. Lake Lanier lies within the Chattahoochee’s headwaters, just north of Atlanta.

The Corps built Lanier in the 1950s with clear Congressional authorization for flood-control, navigation, and hydropower. Over time, however, Lake Lanier has become the primary source of water supply for metro Atlanta, and Alabama and Florida have argued that Georgia withdraws too much and isn’t sharing the water fairly. All three states have turned to the courts to try to resolve the conflict.

In 2009, Judge Magnuson ruled against Georgia, deciding that water supply was not an authorized purpose of Lanier. In 2010, Magnuson again ruled against Georgia, upholding the science used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate the impacts of the Corps operations on federally protected sturgeon and mussels.
In 2010, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Coosa River Basin Initiative, and Flint Riverkeeper issued a call to action to the state’s gubernatorial candidates and other leaders, insisting on a change of course to resolve the conflict and secure metro Atlanta’s future water supply. Together we issued a three-point plan for resolving the Tri-State Water War without sacrificing Georgia's rivers or the communities that depend upon them. The plan, entitled Charting a New Course for Georgia’s Water Security, has been endorsed by all of Georgia's riverkeepers.

What UCR Is Doing and What You Can Do

Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and preserve the Chattahoochee River, its lakes, and tributaries for all those who depend upon it, upstream and downstream. UCR has spent 16 years dealing with the issues surrounding this tri-state dispute, leading the Tri-State Conservation Coalition.

Earlier this year, UCR issued a report outlining Metro Atlanta’s water conservation progress to date and recommending future conservation actions, Filling the Water Gap: Conservation Successes and Missed Opportunities in Metro Atlanta.

We can all help alleviate the water crisis and secure a sustainable future for the ACF by embracing water conservation and efficiency measures. To learn more, visit UCR’s No Time to Waste page.