The latest ruling by a federal judge in Georgia’s long-running water wars should prevent Georgia from suffering a catastrophic loss of water, presuming it’s upheld on appeal, according to the state’s attorneys. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson may also give Gov. Sonny Perdue more leverage in talks with Alabama and Florida’s governors over how to share water resources, Georgia’s attorneys said.
What Magnuson’s ruling doesn’t do, Georgia’s lawyers acknowledge, is help Georgia’s legal position with the judge’s decision last year that says the state has been illegally using Lake Lanier for metro Atlanta’s water supply. Magnuson in July 2009 ordered the three governors to come to an agreement on how to share the water, or he would reduce Georgia’s use of Lake Lanier for water supply to 1970s levels-effectively barring 3 million Georgians from their current water source. Georgia’s appeal of that decision to 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is pending.
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