Fresh Loaf

After noticeably excluding them from his July 23 closed-door meeting with business bigwigs and local and state government officials, Gov. Sonny Perdue will reach out to some of the state’s leading environmental advocates tomorrow to discuss Georgia’s water woes.

Perdue’s invited approximately 10 environmental advocates, including the executive directors of such organizations as the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Georgia Conservation Voters and the Georgia Wildlife Federation, to join him in his office at 10 a.m.

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The Camak Stone, seen here in an undated photograph, was swiped from Tennessee over the weeked

Hark! The Camak Stone, a 14,000-year-old relic placed upon the invisible line separating Georgia from our fellow apes in Tennessee, hath gone missingeth!

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that a volunteer for nearby State Line Cemetery, Freddie McCulley, noticed the [Camak Stone] was gone after discovering some vandalism at the cemetery.

A surveyor placed the Camak Stone in 1826 at what he thought was the 35th parallel marking the border between Tennessee and Georgia. The marker has become a source of controversy between the two states in a battle for water rights in the Tennessee River.

Georgia lawmakers have argued off and on since 1818 that the state’s border was actually a couple of clicks farther to the north — which would mean we’d have dibs on the Tennessee River and it bounteous flows. In 2008, some bills were introduced and a commission to discuss the matter was supposed to convene. But from what we’ve heard, there hasn’t been much movement on the issue.

But something strange is afoot.

(more…)

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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.

(more…)

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Gov. Sonny Perdue sat down with Georgia’s Congressional delegation today to discuss how the state will iron out a water-sharing deal with Alabama and Florida now that a federal judge has ruled metro Atlanta’s use of Lake Lanier for drinking water is illegal.

While governors of the three states check their day planners, the Peach State’s congressmen will weigh whether they want to make the issue a national one or keep the focus on Lake Lanier.

At an Aug. 14 panel discussion with business leaders and other elected officials, Isakson said his office has discovered more than 45 federal reservoirs might be in the same predicament as Lake Lanier — essentially, they were never intended to be used for drinking water, but somewhere along the way local governments started dipping in straws.

(more…)

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Because the only thing worse than potentially losing metro Atlanta’s main source of drinking water is, well,  potentially losing another.

The next skirmish in metro Atlanta’s so far losing battle for drinking water will begin in a federal courtroom here Monday.

Last month a Minnesota judge ruled that Atlanta has no right to drink from Lake Lanier, a potentially crushing blow for future growth and development in North Georgia.

But what happens in Birmingham could prove doubly dire for Atlanta. U.S. District Court Judge Karon Bowdre is weighing whether North Georgia illegally taps Lake Allatoona, too. Her ruling is expected next year.

Lake Allatoona provides drinking water to roughly 800,000 customers in Cobb and surrounding counties.

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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.

(more…)

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'I'll bring the giant slab of meat, guys!'

In a shameless attempt to mimic Kenyan President Barack Obama, an illegal alien who is doing keg stands at this very moment with a Harvard professor and Boston police officer, Gov. Sonny Perdue has invited the governors of Alabama and Florida to chew the fat and talk about sharing Lake Lanier’s water.

“Water issues have dominated the headlines in recent days, and I have read statements from both of you that indicate your willingness to resume water negotiations,” Governor Perdue wrote in a letter to both governors. “Judge Magnuson’s insistence on a Congressional solution was specifically related to authority for Lanier and did not address the allocation of water in the basins between the three states. I have always believed that a negotiated settlement that protects the rights and resources of all three states is the most lasting solution.”

Perdue even gave them a list of 40 days that he’s free. (Gotta be something Biblical about that.) Can’t make it to Atlanta? No biggie! Perdue said he’s willing to travel to them.

The governor might want to be accommodating to their schedules. According to the Associated Press, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley is none too pleased with Perdue’s decision to appoint Georgia Power CEO Mike Garrett to an “impact team” that’ll coordinate the Peach State’s strategy in this wacky mess.

Perdue’s full letter to the governors is pasted after the jump.

(more…)

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Pretty please? Wouldn’t it be nice to do the right thing and help metro Atlanta continue to sprawl? I mean, we did kind of pass legislation in 2008 saying we’d look into redrawing the border so we could tap that mighty river you got there. We could just avoid all that red tape and work it out, right?

Whattaya say?

Tennessee officials still have no intention of letting Georgia tap into the Tennessee River, despite a federal court ruling last week that set a three-year clock ticking for Atlanta to find a new water source.

“Tennessee officials are not rethinking this issue,” said Gov. Phil Bredesen’s spokeswoman Lydia Lenker on Monday.

$@%#! Oh well, maybe we can just learn to conserve the water we have. Wait, what? $@%#!

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Flanked by Mayor Shirley Franklin, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, state lawmakers and business bigwigs, Gov. Sonny Perdue this morning told reporters the state would appeal a recent ruling that said metro Atlanta’s use of Lake Lanier for its primary water supply was illegal.

Perdue met behind closed doors with 130 officials at the Governor’s Mansion this morning to discuss Georgia’s next step in the ongoing water wars dispute with Florida and Alabama. (Jim Galloway has a list of those who attended.)

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson has given Georgia three years to seek Congressional approval for the use of Lake Lanier. If not, withdrawals would return to 1975 levels, when the metro region population was a third the size it is today. Perdue, who earlier this week said he’d “fight to the death” for Georgia’s water, said he hopes to bring other states on board because the federal management of reservoirs is a “national” issue.

For nearly 20 years, the three states have argued over water withdrawals from the lake, which was originally built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s for flood control, hydroelectric production and downstream barge navigation.

When asked by CL if he’d considered asking his floor leaders to introduce legislation that would encourage conservation or set mandates, Perdue bristled. He said the state had made strides over the last 18 months  simply by asking local governments and residents to reduce their use of water.

(more…)

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Good to know our elected officials are thinking big when it comes to dealing with a recent ruling that says metro Atlanta’s use of Lake Lanier as a source of drinking water is illegal.

SOCIAL CIRCLE – State Sen. John Douglas is poised to take the water wars between Georgia, Florida and Alabama to a new front – the football field.

…

Douglas said this ruling comes just as the contract between the University of Georgia and the University of Florida to play the annual football game in Jacksonville, Fla. – which has been called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party – is set for renewal.

“But if the state of Florida wants to play hardball, then as far as I’m concerned, the vendors in Jacksonville can frankly pay the price,” the Social Circle Republican said.

Douglas said he traditionally “doesn’t have a dog in the fight,” but with the recent ruling in the tri-state water wars, he’s ready to work with UGA’s Athletic Association to bring the Georgia-Florida game to Georgia at least every other year.

…

“Now is the time for us to use economic leverage,” he said when contacted by the Citizen on Wednesday. “This is one of the few economic tools we have at our disposal, and I don’t think we should ask the people of Georgia to spend their money in Florida and then have them use that money against us in a courtroom.”

Never mind that the annual Georgia-Florida game is a boon for South Georgia, particularly in the areas of St. Simons, Sea Island and Savannah. Hotels, condo and restaurants along the Golden Isles are packed to capacity during the event. We’re sure business leaders there won’t mind at all.

(Courtesy Senate Press Office)

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Gov. Sonny Perdue has released a statement on Judge Paul Magnuson’s ruling that metro Atlanta’s use of Lake Lanier as its water supply is illegal:

“Obviously, I am deeply disappointed by Judge Magnuson’s decision today. His conclusions rely on decades-old assumptions about the construction of federal reservoirs and the role those reservoirs play in providing water supply for growing states such as Georgia. Our country has changed substantially since the 1940s, when many of these reservoirs were constructed, and I will use this opportunity not only to appeal the judge’s decision but, most importantly, to urge Congress to address the realities of modern reservoir usage. The judge’s ruling allows a three-year window for either Congressional action or an agreement by the states and we will work diligently with Georgia’s delegation and members of Congress to re-establish the proper use of federal reservoirs throughout the country.”

Perdue’s always talking about how the country has changed. Regardless, the AJC’s Jim Galloway, who knows where the bodies are buried, writes that Georgia’s Congressional delegation has scheduled a rare meeting on Monday to get lawmakers on the same page. His post is worth a read if you’re wondering about the political dynamics at play on this issue.

(CL file photo Joeff Davis)

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Mayor Shirley Franklin just released this statement on U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson’s ruling that metro Atlanta can’t tap Lake Lanier for its drinking water:

“Water is a critical resource. The City of Atlanta is spending billions of dollars rebuilding its water infrastructure under federal consent decrees. As mayor, I recognize the seriousness of the ruling and also the value of proper resource stewardship. Clean water is needed for public health, fire protection and economic development for every person and community in Georgia. The Governor and the State have the lead in this case and we and the other Metro Area water providers are following their lead. This is not only a local or regional issue, but a national issue. We welcome the opportunity to resolve it fairly and amicably.”

C’mon! Give us a little pep! Throw some jabs! CL hereby orders all elected officials to attend the Bob Riley School of Public Speaking and Press Release Posturing. We’ve got free papers to sell, after all.

(Cl file photo Joeff Davis)

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Score one for Alabama in the never-ending “water wars” debacle.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson today ruled that metro Atlanta’s water withdrawals from Lake Lanier — long a bone of contention between Alabama, Florida and Georgia — are illegal and ordered withdrawals frozen at their current levels.

Magnuson gave the Peach State three years to receive Congress’ approval should it want to keep dipping its straws in the giant jetski-filled pond. (PDF of the judge’s ruling)

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, whose state has argued for years that Lake Lanier was never authorized to be metro Atlanta’s water fountain, was gracious when he heard the news. According to a statement from the governor printed in the Birmingham Business Journal:

“The significance of today’s ruling for Alabama’s economic and environmental future is tremendous…Atlanta has based its growth on the idea that it could take whatever water it wanted whenever it wanted it, and that the downstream states would simply have to make do with less. Following the court’s ruling today, this massive illegal water grab will be coming to an end.”

(more…)

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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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Good news! This weekend’s nonstop rain gave Lake Lanier a boost. Bad news! The metro region’s chief source of drinking water may have peaked for the year.

Three days of rain lifted Lake Lanier to its highest level since late 2007.

But the half-foot gain may be the last big hurrah for metro Atlanta’s primary water source before next winter. As temperatures start to climb along with water use, Lanier most likely is “peaking out,” said the state’s top water official.

“We’re still well off where we’d hoped to be,” Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch said Monday.

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Number of tornado warnings issued last Tuesday in metro Atlanta because of Tropical Storm Fay: 5

Gallons of rain the tempest added to Lake Lanier, the metro area’s main source of drinking water: 22 billion

Number of days that additional water can last metro Atlanta: 50

Inches Lake Lanier rose last Monday and Tuesday thanks to the storm: 30

Number of feet the lake is still below full level: 15

Average number of gallons released daily from Lake Lanier this month: 1.2 billion

Number of years since the lake’s level has been that low: 52

Gallons that could be saved if pre-1993 metro Atlanta homes replaced their antiquated plumbing fixtures: 183 million

Percentage of respondents in a recent poll who said they were less concerned about the drought this year than they were in 2007: 48

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rasmussen Reports, Metropolitan North Georgia Water District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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The Fulton Daily Report has a great story on how legal battles between states — such as the long-running brouhaha between Georgia, Florida and Alabama — are becoming more common across the nation.

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The following e-mail and photo came to CL from Alex W., a self-described “Lifetime Water Drinker” in southern Indiana. Alex is worried we’re not taking our drought seriously.

Greetings,
I was shopping with friends in the local WalMart store
here in Southern Indiana when I came upon a pretty
bottle of water. My interest in where exactly people
were getting this “safer” source of water lead me to
inspect the label.

My jaw dropped as I read, (more…)

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Proving that there is no fighting in the war room, the state Senate huddled up together and unanimously passed a resolution that would effectively make Georgia look like a bunch of fools and piss Tennessee off at the same time.

The resolution, introduced by Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, calls for a committee to study whether a 190-year-old surveying error mislabeled the border between the two states, and if so, what legal claims Georgia has to annex it. Why do we suddenly care? Legislators say the error robbed us of access to billions of gallons of rich water flowing through the Tennessee River.

State Rep. Harry Geisinger, R-Roswell, introduced a companion resolution in the House, which has yet to hear a vote. Word around the Capitol and in my gut says that’ll pass just as easily.

So there you have it. Solving the water crisis the General Assembly way: Committee your way into someone else’s land and stick a straw in their river.

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Alabama, Florida and Georgia will not be able to meet the Feb. 15 deadline set by the White House and come to a settlement about how water would be shared among the three states, the Associated Press reports. Officials involved with the talks say they need some more time. From the article:

Officials said the states have made progress in recent months after the president sent Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to mediate a compromise as a record drought threatened Atlanta’s drinking supply. But instead of announcing a long-term pact on Friday as planned, they will offer more of a status report.

“I believe there’s a sincere effort being made,” Kempthorne said Thursday on Capitol Hill before entering a budget hearing. “I am encouraged, but I will keep pushing as well.”

Kempthorne, who said he was briefed on the talks Wednesday night, said he would wait to get details on how close the parties are before deciding whether to set a new deadline. If they remain far apart, he said, he will not.

How much more time do we need, Atlanta? I say, “two weeks,” but that’s just me, and my useless talent to remember classic scenes from Arnold Schwarzenegger films.

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Nevermind the fact that he used his political-might to circumvent the state required 30-day waiting period… Another example of him manipulating the system for personal gain.

— Commenter Shrike071 on news that Speaker Glenn Richardson seems to have used personal pull to initiate and complete a divorce in a single day. State law requires a 30-day waiting period for uncontested divorces.

His divorce records are sealed for now, so it’s not yet clear whether Richardson’s divorce has anything to do with allegations last year that he’d been laying pipe* with an attractive lobbyist for the gas industry.

—–

We’re already at war with Alabama and Florida over water, so why not also Tennessee?

— The McGehee Zone on a nascent effort in the state Senate to “correct” Georgia’s border with Tennessee, thus giving Georgia access to the Tennessee River. Them swimmin’ holes don’t fill up by themselves, y’all.

—–

Motherfucker. We apologize for the language, but there is no better way to reflect our feelings upon learning that TAD money cannot be used for the Beltline.

— Raleigh Urbain at Inside the Sprawl on a Supreme Court ruling that nixes the Beltline’s funding mechanism.

City officials will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. 2 p.m. at City Hall to discuss the court’s ruling. It’s not clear yet if Mayor Franklin will be there. According to her office, she just got back from India and had planned to take the day off.

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Editorial boards of Georgia newspapers outside metro Atlanta have harshly criticized the recently passed statewide water plan.

“Georgia lawmakers have wasted an opportunity to craft an elegant statewide water plan that would have required fewer fixes in the future.”

— Savannah Morning News, Jan. 22.

“In this instance [Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and state House Speaker Glenn Richardson], were peddling the statewide water plan, which is going up for legislative endorsement on a very, very fast track despite almost every written opinion about declaring it to be an insult to both common sense and Mother Nature.”

— Rome News-Tribune, Jan. 18

“What actually has been sliced, however, is the influence of the 143 counties outside the 16-county metro Atlanta region when it comes to how water will be allocated within Georgia.”

— Albany Herald, Jan. 20

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What’s bound to happen to the state’s first-ever comprehensive water plan? Even though both the state House and Senate Environment and Natural Resources committees have met, it’s still too early to tell.

State Environmental Protection Director Carol Couch, appearing before Senate and House environment committees last night and this morning, respectively, worked to dispel the “myths” about the water plan. This wasn’t a “water grab” by metro Atlanta, she said, but an effort to “[create] a level playing field.” The 25-member councils in each water-planning district were not, as Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority Executive Director Chris Clarke put it, “water czars.” The councils would merely act as liaisons between the state and municipalities. And the plan, as Couch, Clarke, and many members of the Legislature have said, is not a “lock box,” but a “living document” that is subject to tinkering and adjustment.

The environmental community isn’t sold on the idea, and, frankly, wouldn’t mind if the plan’s rubber teeth morphed into fangs. Gil Rogers of the Southern Environmental Law Center spoke at both hearings on behalf of the Georgia Water Coalition and outlined the vagaries of the three-year effort. He says the plan’s language is lax — too many sentences include “should” rather than “shall.” Some river basins, as outlined in the plan, travel through several proposed districts. The Chattahoochee basin, for example, is divided by three. If disputes between districts arise, how would they be resolved? How the plan addresses such a concern is “anemic” at best, Rogers says

The business community loves the product of the three-year effort that, according to EPD’s Couch, included a strong amount of public input. Name a business interest or organization that banks on an ample water supply — home builders, industry, agribusiness, chambers of commerce — and they stood before the committees to give their blessing. And as one environmentalist put it after last night’s two-hour meeting, “Funny how the people who got us into all this mess are the ones saying they love [the plan].” Missing from those expressions of adoration: Utility companies such as Southern Co., which according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, gobble up a healthy portion of the state’s water.

The Senate committee voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting the plan. The House committee delayed a vote but may hold one at its next meeting, Thursday morning at 8:30. Word around the Gold Dome today is that Senate Republicans have concerns over the 11 water-planning districts presented to them. The regions are decided on county lines, not river basins, as environmentalists, scientists and many others have urged. There are also mumblings about a push for criteria regarding interbasin transfers — the second most widely criticized aspect of the plan and the one that worries downstream communities the most — be written into law. But with the issue’s urgency, such a move may not even budge.

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Tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Maloof Auditorium, the DeKalb County Commission is set to hear — for the umpteenth time — the controversial ordinance requiring homes built before 1993 being sold in the county to be retrofit with low-flow fixtures prior to closing. The measure was hit hard by the real estate industry and has gone through several revisions, such as taking into account houses set to be razed and deciding exactly who — the Realtors, the resident, the closing attorney, etc. — should be responsible for ensuring such changes have been made. The fight’s been fought before, last time in the General Assembly, and the measure was squashed by the same folks who are fighting it now. Environmentalists are urging state legislators to pursue conservation bills when the session starts next week, and this DeKalb ordinance scuttlebutt could very well be a micro version of what you’d see go down in the Gold Dome.

Now, keep in mind that it’s “on the agenda,” as I was corrected just a minute ago by Kristie Swink, DeKalb’s public information officer, who said that the commission “will vote” on the ordinance is not the correct terminology — especially after it’s been deferred time and time again.

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The Kremlinologists over at Insider Advantage posted a news report that should bring some holiday cheer to critics of the statewide water plan. The Georgia Water Policy Council, under pressure from environmental groups and local governments, decided on Friday to hold off giving the plan its final blessing until after the new year. Critics disagreed with a last-minute change made by the state Environmental Protection Division that draws district boundaries according to county lines rather than watersheds. The agency has also come under fire for how members of the regional water-planning bodies would be selected. According to the current draft, candidates would be nominated by local power brokers from a variety of industries and sectors, and then hand-picked by the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker.

The report says the vote is set for Jan. 8, which, according to my research two weeks ago, was the date all along. Oh well. Viva agua!

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