Water Wars Getting the Feds Involved
The water wars between Georgia, Alabama and Florida continue to intensify as the land in all these states continues to get drier and drier.
Perdue in a recent press conference called it “the single worst drought in Georgia’s history,” and Riley in a recent letter to President Bush called the drought “severe and unprecedented.”
Perdue wants the Army Corps of Engineers to release less water into the Chattahoochee River from Lake Lanier in north Georgia. The lake is the main source of drinking water for more than 4 million people in the Atlanta area.
Riley said he would fight any cuts in water releases that would hurt Alabama plants on the Chattahoochee downstream from Lake Lanier, such as the Farley nuclear plant in Houston County. It produces about 19 percent of the electricity generated by Alabama Power, which serves 1.4 million customers in Alabama.
Riley, Perdue and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist plan to meet Thursday in Washington to talk about the drought and water resources their states share, aides to Perdue and Riley said.
“I hope we can get a better understanding of what our positions are,” Riley said. “I think it’s much better to do it face-to-face than it is to continue this rhetoric that has become so heightened over the last few days.”