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Lake Lanier Case a Lesson on Water Resources and Land Use Planning

In July, a federal judge settled a nearly 20-year legal dispute among Alabama, Florida, and Georgia over the use of water from Lake Lanier, dealing a tough blow to Georgia. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed Buford Dam in the 1950s, creating Lake Lanier as a reservoir for flood control, navigation, and hydropower. But Atlanta and its sprawling metropolitan area came to rely on the reservoir as a water supply, and Lake Lanier today supplies water to 75 percent of the city. In 1990, Alabama and Florida filed suit against the Corps and Georgia to stop Atlanta’s use of the reservoir.

The 97-page order from Paul Magnuson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida is clear: Atlanta’s use of water from Lake Lanier as a municipal water supply is illegal and inconsistent with the original purposes of the lake. Georgia must get Congress to approve a change in use for water from Lake Lanier, and it has 3 years to do so. With this ruling, Alabama and Florida clearly have the upper hand. Without congressional approval or some other resolution, withdrawals from the lake must return to the levels of the mid-1970s. Thus, water deliveries to Atlanta would cease completely. Only two small cities that were originally allowed to use the Lake as their water supply would be able to continue water withdrawals. The court itself recognized this order as a “draconian result” but commensurate with “how far the operation of the Buford project has strayed from the original authorization.”

Tucked away at the end of this decision is the most telling paragraph. Judge Magnuson wrote:

Too often, state, local, and even national government actors do not consider the long-term consequences of their decisions. Local governments allow unchecked growth because it increases tax revenue, but these same governments do not sufficiently plan for the resources such unchecked growth will require. Nor do individual citizens consider frequently enough their consumption of our scarce resources, absent a crisis situation such as that experienced in the ACF basin in the last few years. The problems faced in the ACF basin will continue to be repeated throughout this country, as the population grows and more undeveloped land is developed. Only by cooperating, planning, and conserving can we avoid the situations that gave rise to this litigation.

Only a handful of states, including Florida, have explicit legislation to address the nexus between land-use planning and water availability. Land-use planning is the province of local governments that are often eager to guard their power, while water allocation is typically the province of state governments. Both state and local governments are typically loath to relinquish power over their spheres, but increasing water disputes may force them into closer cooperation.

CPR Member Scholars Christine Klein and Mary Jane Angelo, along with their colleague Richard Hamann, note that arid western cities and some states have long made the connection between land use planning and water resource management. While limited water resources have not necessarily deterred urban growth, they force cities to reconceptualize growth by altering zoning plans based on groundwater availability or ensuring a 20-year water supply for new developments. Eastern states, typically graced with plentiful water, have yet to begin seriously linking the water availability and land-use. One exception, however, is Florida. Georgia and Alabama have much to learn from their southern neighbor.

In Florida, local governments control land-use planning, while five water management districts control water allocation. Although their spheres are distinct, the Florida legislature has integrated many overlapping aspects to help ensure comprehensive water supply planning (at least in theory). Local governments in Florida are required to address water issues in their comprehensive plans and base their plans on the availability of water supplies and facilities. Comprehensive plans must also address water conservation and current and projected water needs and sources.

Concurrency” or “wet growth” also links land use planning and water management. “Wet growth” is a concept that integrates concerns about water quality and availability into the patterns and location of land development. In Florida, local governments must ensure that water supplies are available for new developments. In some parts of the state, regional water supply plans are required to sustain water resources and related natural systems over a 20-year timeline. Florida’s water management districts can comment on local governments’ land use plans or plan amendments, and those comments can influence the ultimate decision to approve or alter the plans.

While Georgia and Alabama can learn from their southern neighbor, they can also one-up Florida. Overall, Klein and Angelo note, integration of land-use planning and water resource management in Florida is limited and “does not go far enough to ensure long-term protection of water resources and the public interest.” For years environmentalists have been urging the city of Atlanta and the Georgia Legislature to implement stronger water conservation measures and to reevaluate growth plans in light of water supplies. This latest ruling in the southern water saga, and Judge Magnuson’s admonition, may finally provide the impetus to do so.

Showing 2,828 results

Yee Huang | August 27, 2009

Lake Lanier Case a Lesson on Water Resources and Land Use Planning

In July, a federal judge settled a nearly 20-year legal dispute among Alabama, Florida, and Georgia over the use of water from Lake Lanier, dealing a tough blow to Georgia. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed Buford Dam in the 1950s, creating Lake Lanier as a reservoir for flood control, navigation, and hydropower. But Atlanta […]

Holly Doremus | August 26, 2009

Would a CO2 ‘Monkey Trial’ Improve Scientific Integrity and Transparency?

Cross-posted by permission from Legal Planet. As reported in the L.A. Times and Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has petitioned EPA to hold a trial-type hearing before finalizing its proposed finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. (We blogged about the proposed endangerment finding here.) The main argument in […]

Alice Kaswan | August 26, 2009

Why a Cap-and-Trade System Needs a Regulatory Backstop

As fellow environmental law professors David Schoenbrod and Richard Stewart take their advocacy for market mechanisms and skepticism about regulation public, with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, I thought it was time to speak out in favor of a role for regulation. They claim that the climate change bill that passed […]

Rena Steinzor | August 25, 2009

Obama EPA Takes Strike One on Atrazine

The publication of in-depth investigative reporting on complex regulatory issues is a phenomenon that has become as rare as hen’s teeth, and I greeted the front-page story in Sunday’s New York Times on the perils posed by atrazine with a big cheer. Unfortunately, despite reporter Charles Duhigg’s best efforts, the response of Environmental Protection Agency […]

Holly Doremus | August 24, 2009

Atrazine in Drinking Water

This item cross-posted by permission from Legal Planet. Atrazine is suddenly very much in the news. Sunday’s New York Times features a major story about whether the EPA’s current standard for acceptable levels of atrazine in drinking water is tight enough to protect human health. Yesterday’s Peoria Journal carried a story about a class action […]

Rena Steinzor | August 21, 2009

The Grassley Crusade against Medical Ghostwriting: Let’s Not Burn Witches at the Stake

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), of late in the news for his role as power player in the health care debate, has long enjoyed a reputation as a Republican maverick. One reason for that reputation is his highly publicized crusade to improve ethics in the medical profession, specifically with respect to “ghost writing” of medical journal […]

Catherine O'Neill | August 20, 2009

USGS’s Study on Mercury in Fish: Trouble in the Water

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued a report today finding widespread mercury contamination in U.S. streams. The USGS found methylmercury in every fish that it sampled – an extraordinary indictment of the health of our nation’s waters. The USGS reported that the fish at 27% of the sites contain mercury at levels exceeding the […]

Matt Shudtz | August 19, 2009

Update on BPA and the FDA

On Monday, the big news out of FDA was the announcement that they’re going to publish a new assessment of the risks posed by BPA in food packaging, due out by the end of November. Jesse Goodman, FDA’s Chief Scientist, made the announcement at a meeting of the agency’s Science Board, which also heard two […]

Ben Somberg | August 18, 2009

Bottled Water in the News

If you haven’t caught it yet, Mother Jones magazine’s cover article on Fiji Water, by Anna Lenzer, is an impressive, provocative bit of reporting (“How did a plastic water bottle, imported from a military dictatorship thousands of miles away, become the epitome of cool?”). Fiji responded, and Lenzer responds to that.