On August 21, 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged  for the first time that Atlanta drinking water is not an authorized use of water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river basin.  Further, the Corps committed to reopen the manual scoping process to reflect the current illegal water supply withdrawals from the ACF by Georgia.  This represents another huge victory for Alabama.  The Corps has unequivocally committed to update the ACF water control manuals to reflect the current state of law and can no longer use the manual updates to favor Georgia over Florida.

This acknowledgement comes after a federal district court ruling in Jacksonville, Florida, affirming the State of Alabama’s position in a decades-old, tri-state water rights dispute.  U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled in favor in Alabama and Florida, affirming the states’ argument that operational changes allocating water for the Atlanta water supply require Congressional approval.  Judge Magnuson’s decision orders a freeze on current water withdrawal levels from the reservoir for three years to allow for Congressional action on the matter.  Absent such action, withdrawal levels will return to the much lower levels of the 1970’s.

These decisions represent huge victories for Alabama on the water wars front.  At the state level, I believe that the governors of the affected states should continue negotiating a deal that maintains the integrity of Alabama’s water supply.  At the federal level, I will stand in opposition of any legislation that seeks to diminish it.