Georgia Sues Army Corps of Engineers Over Allatoona Water Supply

The state of Georgia, along with the Atlanta Regional Commission and Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for ” failure to address long-standing water supply requests” in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin, his office announced on Friday.

“It’s frustrating to find the Corps unwilling to do what it has committed to do in the adjoining Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (River) basin – namely addressing the issue of additional water supply need at the same time the water control manual is being updated,” Gov. Nathan Deal said on Friday. “Failing to do so in our present situation is not defensible from either a legal or policy perspective.”

The Corps recently completed a critical step toward a much-needed new water control plan for Allatoona Lake, which lies in Bartow, Cherokee and Cobb counties.

Unfortunately, this step again demonstrates the Corps’ intention to not address any of the unresolved water supply requests, the governor’s office said. This decision comes after a series of requests by state and local leaders over a period of over 30 years for the Corps to address the need for additional drinking water supply from Allatoona Lake.

“It is regrettable but necessary that we must now ask the court to require the Corps to do its job and make a decision,” added Attorney General Sam Olens. “We need to know how Allatoona Lake will be operated for water supply so we can plan for the future. That’s all we’re asking the Corps to do — put politics aside, make a decision, and let the chips fall where they may.”

Water in the ACT basin flows from Georgia through Alabama to Mobile Bay. The suits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

ARC Executive Director Doug Hooker added the Corps refuses to ”consider the region’s longstanding request for future water supply.”

“Allatoona Lake, along with Lake Lanier, is one of the primary sources of drinking water for Metro Atlanta, and we need to know how much water we can get from the lake,” he added. “Therefore, we are asking the court to break this logjam by directing the Army to answer this question so that we can move forward.”

Metro Atlanta has some of the most proactive water conservation measures in the country, the ARC said in its press release also announcing the lawsuit. Through the region’s water supply plan and the implementation activities of our local governments and water utilities, water use has declined more than 10 percent since 2001, while still supporting the needs of a population that has increased 20 percent.

Water in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin basin flows from Georgia through Alabama to Mobile Bay. The suits are not related to any litigation between Florida and Georgia regarding the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin.

Photo credit: Patch file