Judge again rules against Georgia in water fight

By Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The judge overseeing the tri-state water wars case on Monday again ruled against Georgia and all but told the state it should stop litigating claims to Lake Lanier water rights and settle the case once and for all. 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.” Gil Rogers, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said Georgia needs to get the message. “If the signal the judge sent in July wasn’t clear enough, it’s now become that much more clear,” Rogers said. “He’s setting the framework for the parties to finally resolve this 20-year-old dispute.” In July, Magnuson ruled it is illegal for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to draw water from Lake Lanier to meet the needs of metro Atlanta’s 3.5 million residents. Magnuson stayed the case for three years to give Georgia, Alabama and Florida time to work out a water-sharing plan. The judge said metro Atlanta should not increase its current level of withdrawals from the lake during this time frame. Magnuson gravely stated that metro Atlanta will have to find most of its water elsewhere if an agreement cannot be reached. …