ATLANTA – Georgia has scored another victory in the decades-long tri-state water wars with Alabama and Florida.
In a decision issued late last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted Georgia’s request for water allocation from Allatoona Lake, which supplies Cobb County and the city of Cartersville.
The Corps’ decision on the Allatoona Lake supply came less than a month after a federal judge ruled in Georgia’s favor in a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s use of water from Lake Lanier.
“This is a generational pivotal moment for metro Atlanta that secures our water supply for decades to come,” said Katherine Zitsch, managing director of natural resources for the Atlanta Regional Commission. “[It] significantly increases our drought resiliency … [and] will encourage further smart infrastructure investments and efficient water use in the region.”
Both the Army Corps’ decision on Allatoona Lake and the court ruling on Lake Lanier stem from federal lawsuits the state of Alabama filed claiming the Corps was allocating too much water to Georgia at its expense.
The U.S. Supreme Court also sided with Georgia in a ruling in April rejecting a lawsuit the state of Florida filed alleging the water Georgia takes from the Chattahoochee River Basin has ruined the oyster industry in Apalachicola Bay.
The decision by the Corps on Allatoona Lake, dated Aug. 27, cited the building of the $100 million Hickory Log Creek Reservoir as a factor in its approval of the water allocation request submitted by the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority and the city of Cartersville.
The 411-acre reservoir in Cherokee County, which opened in 2013, conserves water by providing upstream storage.