Metro Atlanta and its 4 million residents have almost no rights to a massive federal reservoir and must stop taking water from it within three years unless Congress authorizes continued withdrawals, a federal judge ruled.

The devastating ruling against Georgia says nearly all the state's withdrawals are illegal because the reservoir, Lake Lanier, wasn't built for water supply. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson acknowledged use of the lake can't stop immediately because it is metro Atlanta's main water supply but said the state needs permission from Congress.
"The Court recognizes that this is a draconian result,'' Magnuson wrote. "It is, however, the only result that recognizes how far the operation of the (lake) has strayed from the original authorization.''

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist called the ruling a "monumental milestone'' in the 20-year water feud that has pitted his state and Alabama against Georgia. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said it would have a tremendous impact on his state's economic future.
Riley and Crist both said they hoped it would push the states back to the negotiating table.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue vowed to fight, saying he would appeal the decision while at the same time working for a favorable outcome in Washington.
"Obviously, I am deeply disappointed,'' Perdue said in a statement. "Magnuson's 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.''

BATTLES TOUGHER THAN SEC FOOTBALL

Florida, Georgia and Alabama have been fighting over water for two decades, particularly the operation of federal dams that hold water back in reservoirs and can dramatically affect flows downstream.
The fast-growing Atlanta region relies on Lanier and other reservoirs for drinking water. But Florida and Alabama depend on healthy river flows for commercial fisheries, farms, industrial users and municipalities. The Army Corps of Engineers also is required to release adequate flows to ensure habitats for species protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Friday's ruling came in a case being heard in Jacksonville, Fla., in which Florida and Alabama challenged a 2003 water-sharing agreement between Georgia and the Army Corps that would have allowed Georgia to take far more water from Lanier over the coming decades. The deal would have allowed Georgia's withdrawals to jump from about 13 percent of the lake's capacity to about 22 percent.
Florida and Alabama argued the lake was initially built for hydropower and that providing water to Georgia was not an authorized use.

Magnuson cited a lengthy historical record of government documents and testimony before Congress to support his ruling that serving Atlanta's water needs was only an incidental purpose for the lake. He noted that Georgia officials argued as much in the 1950s to avoid having to help pay for building it.
Magnuson ordered the lake's water usage to be kept at current levels for the next three years. Without congressional action by then, he said, the lake's operations would return to 1970s levels, with only the cities of Gainesville and Buford allowed to take water. Other municipalities that get withdrawals just downstream from the reservoir would also see their water supplies drastically reduced.

BACK TO THE TABLE FOR PERDUE

The ruling could drive the states' governors back into negotiations after a series of talks in recent years failed to yield a compromise. Alabama and Florida have accused Georgia of relying on its agreements with the corps to take an unyielding position into earlier discussions.
Given Florida and Alabama's influence in Congress, it would be a challenge for Georgia lawmakers to push through legislation that even maintains Georgia's current uses, much less increases it significantly.
"It's a real wake-up call for this part of Georgia to really examine how it's using water and what's really sustainable in the long run,'' said Gil Rogers, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center.

GEORGIA WATCHER STUNNED

Sally Bethea, executive director of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeepers, was stunned by the ruling.
"This is the question that has needed to be answered for 20 years,'' Bethea said. "In terms of water management in the Chattahoochee Basin, I'm glad we finally got a forcing factor to get all the parties together to come up with a management plan that will support Atlanta and downstream management needs.''

ISAKSON DISAPOINTED, VOWS TO FIGHT

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., acknowledged that the state's representatives "have our work cut out for us.''
But he said Congress frequently works through complicated water disagreements among states, particularly in the dry West.
"Congress is made up of 50 states, all of which have water issues,'' he said. "Every state has an interest in every compact because every time you set a precedent, it could have an effect elsewhere.''