With the clock ticking toward a court-imposed deadline in the tri-state water wars, members of Congress are growing increasingly frustrated -- and concerned -- that the governors of Georgia, Alabama and Florida aren't working quickly enough toward a settlement in the case.

Scarred by the drought, and fearful of a permanent reduction in water levels, homeowners, boaters and marina operators on lakes Lanier and Allatoona are pushing Washington to raise the reservoirs.

For the first time since a federal judge's stunning decision in the tri-state water wars, Georgia's congressional delegation is planning to sit down with all of their counterparts from Florida and Alabama to discuss what to do next.

First came years of drought. Then weeks of rain. Now Lake Lanier is too full -- if you can believe that.

Carol Couch, the director of the state's Environmental Protection Division, said Monday that six years in the job was enough and she has accepted a faculty position at the University of Georgia.

With Lake Lanier at full pool for the first time in four years and still rising, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle on Wednesday sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking that they let the lake continue to rise another two or three feet.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson, of Minnesota, last July issued an order in the long-simmering “water wars” between Georgia, Alabama and Florida.  The judge has now issued another order that reveals him to be an advocate and not the disinterested, objective jurist Georgia is entitled to and which normal jurisprudence requires.

Unbowed after a federal judge ruled yet again against Georgia, state officials remained steadfast Tuesday in support of their widely questioned legal strategy to guarantee future access to Lake Lanier drinking water.

The judge overseeing the tri-state water wars case on Monday again ruled against Georgia and all but told the state it should stop litigating claims to Lake Lanier water rights and settle the case once and for all.

Governor Sonny Perdue today announced the creation of a task force that will help develop contingencies for water consumption as a result of the recent water ruling limiting the access of Lake Lanier for water supply.

A federal spending bill passed Thursday requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide a report in the coming months that could further threaten Georgia’s use of Lake Lanier as a source of drinking water.

Governor Sonny Perdue, in his annual environmental address today, says Georgia should continue its water conservation efforts learned from the drought. 

Two prominent executives will head a new task force on water announced Tuesday by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Former Gov. and current gubernatorial candidate Roy Barnes is speaking out about the ongoing water rights dispute involving Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Politicians and bureaucrats haven’t found a resolution to the 19-year tri-state water war. So, a new grass-roots organization is going to give it a shot.

Gwinnett County has filed a notice of appeal in response to the July 17, 2009, decision of Judge Paul Magnuson in the Jacksonville, Fla., District Court on the long-running “Water Wars” cases in which Gwinnett County is a party.

Negotiate... legislate... litigate... and conserve. That's the four-pronged approach Lt. Governor Casey Cagle outlined Monday as Georgia continues its battle for water in Lake Lanier.

The state of Georgia, the Atlanta Regional Commission and other local governments served notice they will appeal a ruling that said metro Atlanta cannot rely on Lake Lanier for all its water needs.

Free of state-mandated restrictions, Atlantans have reverted to their watery ways, dousing lawns, cars and bodies with more and more of Lake Lanier’s still-precious water.

Georgia's political leaders are taking another look at legislation aimed at encouraging more water conservation in the wake of a devastating federal court ruling that could restrict Atlanta from its main water supply.
 

If it were only Alabama and Florida that Gov. Sonny Perdue had to fight in the Chattahoochee River water war, then he might have a deal by now. But Perdue also faces strong opposition from downriver communities in his own state.

Approximately 26 billion gallons of water are used every day in the United States. According to the United States Geological Survey, the average American uses between 80 and 100 gallons of water daily.  People depend on water for healthy lifestyles; and Atlantans depend on Lake Lanier as their primary water source. 

Water — who has it and who needs it — is creating a polarized political climate of “us” versus “them.”

Gov. Sonny Perdue, continuing his courtship of local and state officials with stakes in the tri-state water war, met Tuesday with a coalition of environmental groups keen to make water conservation a priority.

Things seemed bad enough two years ago. Georgia withered in prolonged drought. Water levels in Lake Sidney Lanier, this area's main drinking water source, dropped by the week, huge parts of lake bottom baking in the sun. It was a frightening scenario until the rain finally came.

Jobs and other economic benefits that don't flow to Atlanta because of its water- supply problems aren't likely to trickle down to Augusta and other parts of the state, many experts say.

In a 1940 letter that is now at the heart of a water rights war in Georgia, then-U.S. Army Chief of Engineers J.L. Schley wrote Congress about the purposes for a new reservoir on Georgia’s Etowah River: flood control, navigation and power generation.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has agreed to meet with Gov. Sonny Perdue in an attempt to hash out a water-sharing agreement, Perdue said Monday. Now it’s up to Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida to join in as well.

Gov. Sonny Perdue and members of Georgia’s congressional delegation met Monday to divide up the duties of responding to a federal court decision that threatens the state’s water supply future.

Members of Georgia’s congressional delegation are considering floating legislation as early as September that could make it legal for municipalities to draw drinking water from not only Lake Lanier but nearly 80 other federally managed reservoirs in 27 states.

You might think Georgia has enough problems with Alabama and Florida in the war over water from Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River.

But there's another problem that looms under the radar of folks here in metro Atlanta.

Sensing a political opportunity, Democrats running for governor are blaming one another for Georgia's water shortage. For a couple of decades, Georgia has been at odds with its neighboring states over water, the kind of battles that have raged for years among western states. At stake are not just brown lawns and empty swimming pools in Atlanta's tony subdivisions; it's the economic viability of the whole state, according to the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

Last month’s court ruling over withdrawing water from Lake Lanier was a wake-up call on the need for more aggressive water conservation, say environmental advocates critical of Georgia’s past approach to saving water.

Gov. Sonny Perdue headed south Wednesday to assure communities along the Chattahoochee River below Atlanta that he wouldn’t sell them down the river in any water deal with Alabama and Florida.