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Water War Deadline Looming

By Associated Press

Officials from Alabama, Florida and Georgia have until february 15th to come up with a plan to settle an 18-year battle over sharing water. Water War Deadline Looming

Published: Mon, February 04, 2008 - 1:18 pm

ATLANTA (AP) - Officials from Alabama, Florida and Georgia say
they are hopeful they will be able to meet a deadline this month to
come up with a plan to settle an 18-year battle over sharing water.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Sarah
Williams tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that officials hope
to have a plan by February 15th.
A spokesman for Alabama Governor Bob Riley says he expects at
least "something of a compromise" even if all the issues aren't
resolved by then.
A spokesman for Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue says the deadline
is still doable.
Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch
would say only that staffers from the three states and federal
representatives have met twice in January.
The issue has been how much water to send downstream to Florida
from Georgia's Lake Lanier at a time when metro Atlanta and north
Georgia are experiencing a record-setting drought. Georgia's main
objective is to keep as much water in Lanier as possible.
Florida's primary concern is getting enough water from Georgia's
Chattahoochee and Flint rivers to flow into its Apalachicola River
to protect threatened and endangered species and maintain the
seafood and recreational fishing industries in Apalachicola Bay.
Alabama shares the Chattahoochee with Georgia on part of its
eastern border. It is much more interested in how much water is
flowing down the Coosa River. The Coosa basin provides water to
much of Alabama for hydropower and recreational lakes, to float
barges, and for drinking water and farm irrigation.
Alabama also wants enough water flowing down the Chattahoochee
to run a nuclear power plant near Dothan.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)