After the Supreme Court declined to rule on the Tri-State Water War appeal by Alabama and Florida, effectively allowing the U.S. Appellate Court ruling to stand, Sally Bethea, executive director of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper had this to say to Dennis O’Hayer of WABE (90.1FM):
“With this recent ruling that Lanier is legally available for water supply, I think those reservoirs should go out the window. They’re too expensive. We can’t afford them. They would impound water and evaporate water upstream of Lake Lanier. They don’t make sense fiscally or environmentally.”
The Council for Quality Growth believes this would be a step backwards in the progress Georgia has made by ensuring sound water management policies, through actions taken by former Governor Sonny Perdue, the General Assembly, the Water Contingency Planning Task Force and Governor Nathan Deal. In 2009, the Task Force concluded that water supply reservoirs are an important part of Georgia’s water resource plan and emphasized the importance storage water in supplementing the natural capacity of streams to meet the water supply needs of the region. The Council supports the position that new reservoirs should be operated in a way that maximizes off stream water uses, while limiting the impact to the environment.
The Council for Quality Growth, as part of our mission, believes an abundant water supply is vital to economic development and quality of life for the Metro Atlanta region.