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WATER POLITICS

Terra Daily’s recent look at the extreme drought in the southeast US which has fueled a bitter tri-state battle over dwindling water resources may just be a prelude to many such water controversies in the years ahead.

“…Millions of people in the state of Georgia fear their taps could run dry, while environmentalists in Florida say freshwater mollusks protected under the US Endangered Species Act risk dying off.

Hoping to guarantee no one will go thirsty, Georgia authorities want to drastically reduce the outflow from a reservoir that supplies drinking water to three million people. But neighboring Alabama claims that would have devastating economic effects on its population, while Florida says a reduced flow would threaten fragile ecosystems.

….The man-made lake is at the frontline of the battle of words. It supplies drinking water for more than three million people in the city of Atlanta, feeds the Chattahoochee river that runs along the border with Alabama and flows into Florida’s Apalachicola river.

….Georgia has filed a legal motion seeking to force the US Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the reservoir, to limit the release of water. Alabama and Florida both oppose the motion.

“….Our problem is that the lake has become political,” said Leamy, a retired building contractor who lives in the small town of Cumming, near Lake Lanier.”