Supremes Eye Water War

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled Thursday to consider whether it will review the so-called water war case between Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Georgia is the target of a water-rights dispute, which Alabama and Florida have pursued to the high court.

Georgia’s neighboring states are asking the Supreme Court to take the case and ultimately overturn a ruling last June by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which set aside a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson.

Magnuson had placed a strict timeline for Georgia’s cities to dramatically cut back on withdrawals from Lake Lanier, a federal reservoir on the Chattahoochee River, which flows into Alabama and Florida.

The appellate court ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reevaluate water withdrawals from the lake, which could potentially favor metro Atlanta communities dependent on the lake for drinking water.

Alabama and Florida have long argued that Congress never intended for the federally funded reservoir to provide local drinking water. They have said that water flow from Georgia is critical to a number of resources and fisheries in their states.

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