Fresh Loaf

The federal judge that recently ruled against Georgia in the decades-long tri-state “water war” basically told the state on Monday that he wasn’t pleased with the state’s legal maneuvering.

From the AJC:

In a three-page order, Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson frowned upon the Georgia parties’ appeals to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

He said an appeal “will only delay and further complicate the resolution of the important claims at issue.” [...]

“The court stayed the matter for three years, to allow the parties and the political system to attempt to reach a solution to this inherently political problem,” Maguson wrote Monday. Magnuson said he “fully anticipates” the parties will resolve their differences before the deadline.

But Magnuson also noted that “keeping with the gamesmanship evidenced throughout this litigation,” the Georgia parties never abandon their legal claims.

Since Magnuson’s July ruling, Gov. Sonny Perdue has said the state will continue the legal fight, consider building more reservoirs, and — after some huffing and puffing — look at conservation measures. The state’s finding out those first two solutions are more tricky now that Georgia’s behind the eight ball in this little dispute.

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Joe Cook

Faced with the threat of losing most of Lake Lanier as a source of drinking water in 2012, Gov. Sonny Perdue and state lawmakers have signaled they’re willing to pursue some water-conservation measures during the next legislative session. Joe Cook, executive director and riverkeeper of the Coosa River Basin Initiative in Rome, Ga., offers politicos a laundry list of solutions.

In a federal judge’s decision earlier this summer, our state may have encountered, if you’ll pardon the pun, a watershed moment.

The judge ruled that Lake Lanier on the Chattahoochee River was not authorized for the purposes of water supply by Congress and therefore, Metro Atlanta communities are not entitled to the water that they’ve been taking from the lake.

He gave Georgia three years to convince Congress to change the lake’s authorized purposes. Without that authorization, some taps in the area may well go dry.

The judge dropped a ticking water bomb in the laps of Georgia leaders. The judge’s decision now forces Georgia’s to get serious about securing alternative water supplies, and it appears to be having an effect.

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The recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson that told Georgia to start kissing ass or coming up with water-supply solutions might have also sparked a cottage industry of sorts: developers with nifty ideas about how to make a profit while also ensuring more water for cities who fear their taps — and tax base — could run dry.

It’s happening right here.

Last week, sources told CL that Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials had been approached by a private developer with the idea of selling Dawson Forest — a 10,000-acre tract of North Georgia land owned by the airport — and building a reservoir. The city bought the tract of land in 1971 in anticipation of a second airport.

According to tentative details, a tributary of the Etowah River would be dammed to create the large body of water. Officials were tight-lipped and sources couldn’t connect all the dots, but Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle was able to get the goods.

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Oh, state Sen. Chip Pearson, you do not disappoint, sir!

The Republican lawmaker from Dawsonville — whom we’ve lovingly nicknamed “Dirty Sanchez” — is the Gold Dome’s biggest cheerleader of reservoirs and always open to revisiting some of those pesky environmental laws that get in the way of economic development and jobs, jobs, jobs.

Every year he seems to offer one bad legislative idea after the other, and every year we recognize him for his efforts with a Golden Sleaze Award. It’s like clockwork, people!

In a Dawson Times editorial today, Pearson says the state needs a “MacArthur Plan for Georgia’s water future.”

Does it involve more conservation, which environmental advocates say is the cheapest and easiest measure and offers the biggest bang for the buck when it comes to reducing demand on metro Atlanta’s fragile water supply?

Nope! Pearson says we need to dig holes. Lots and lots of holes.

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1. Beltline proposal near Piedmont Park prompts concerns about density (How dense is too dense at 10th and Monroe?)

2. Thoughts on passing of Atlanta LGBT rights leader Allen Thornell (Beloved activist, 38, dies after suffering a stroke.)

3. Letter to editor about Georgia reservoirs hilariously suburban (Second only to CL, the Marietta Daily Journal has some of the best letters to the editor.)

4. Oxendine attacks Obama on behalf of big donors (The Ox has to look out for his base — which, is, of course, big insurance companies.)

5. MARTA service cuts start Aug. 15 (Bus route 23 — which runs along Peachtree, linking Midtown to Buckhead — gets the axe.)

(Photo courtesy Atlanta Beltline Inc.)

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A bill that would allow local governments to build big water-filled holes even if they’ve signed service agreements with other providers is winding its way through the Georgia General Assembly — and the City of Atlanta in none too pleased with the legislation.

Why? Because the bill is tailor-made for three cities in South Fulton that are planning a 440-acre reservoir. And two of those cities purchase water from the city.

Rob Hunter, commissioner of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, said House Bill 406, which passed the House and the Senate Natural Resources Committee, will “throw the bond market into chaos.”

Hunter said Atlanta’s $4 billion water and sewer overhaul is partially dependent on revenues from the south Fulton cities. He also said the proposed Bear Creek Reservoir is not needed since Atlanta can meet south Fulton’s water demand through 2060.

Harold Reheis, the former Georgia Environmental Protection Division director turned Gold Dome lobbyist who’s pushing the bill, tells the AJC that the cities’ contribution to Atlanta’s revenue is a fraction of one percent. He also points to the constant threat of droughts — but it’s over, yippee! — and the state’s ongoing “water war” as reasons for the giant hole.

According to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers documents mailed to CL, the reservoir will feature a 42-foot-tall dam and, once built, will fill with water pumped from the Chattahoochee River.

(Photo of Hickory Log Creek Reservoir by Joeff Davis)

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Were you anticipating a giant man-made hole near you sometime soon? Thanks to that pesky economy thing, you’re going to have to wait.

From the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority:

As you may be aware, due to the recent economic downturn affecting the U.S. economy, the state of Georgia is facing a sharp decline in revenue. In consultation with the leadership in the Georgia General Assembly, Governor Sonny Perdue is reallocating funding to safeguard essential government services and programs. Accordingly, in order to keep all options open as the state develops a funding plan for the budget shortfall, the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) instructed the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) to suspend the Georgia Water Supply Competitive Grant Program funded through an Amended Fiscal Year 2008 appropriation of $40 million. OPB also notified GEFA to suspend distribution of the Fiscal Year 2009 allocation of $10 million in grant funding for the Georgia Land Conservation Program (GLCP).

The agency says it’ll work with current and future grant applicants to find alternate funding sources. It’ll also continue to offer its low-interest loan program for local water supply projects. Click here to download the full announcement or read it after the jump.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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