‘A win-win’: Alabama and Georgia reach agreement after yearslong ‘water wars’ including Chattahoochee River

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Since the 1990s, Georgia, Alabama and Florida have been locked in a series of legal “water wars” over how to manage shared river basins, including the Chattahoochee River. But after an agreement between Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, one of those battles may be coming to an end.

The governors announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of controlling the Chattahoochee River’s dams and reservoirs, will consider a proposal with newly set water minimums at Columbus, Georgia, and Columbia, Alabama. It would also set a minimum elevation at Lake Seminole in southwest Georgia. These levels would make sure residents have enough water during droughts, the announcement said.

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“This agreement is a win-win for our states, with neither side sacrificing what is important to them,” Kemp said in the statement. “... Just as significant, adoption of this proposal would end the current issues related to water supply for metro Atlanta at Lake Lanier, which is crucial to the future of our State.”

Ivey agreed, calling the proposal a “big deal” for Alabama.

The governors said the proposal was made to resolve a lawsuit Alabama filed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2017, part of which criticized water supply withdrawals near the ever-growing city of Atlanta.

The Corps has never set waterflow minimums in parts of the Chattahoochee that affect Alabama, according to Ivey.

“Alabama and Georgia have a lot in common,” Ivey said. “But we have spent a lot of time — and a lot of money on attorney fees — fighting in court over water.”

The proposal will include a public comment period and environmental review, which could last several months. If the Corps adopts the proposal, Alabama will dismiss its appeal after one year. If the Corps denies the proposal, the lawsuit will continue.

Florida is not mentioned in the agreement. Florida filed a lawsuit against Georgia in 2014, saying its water use harmed the environment and collapsed the Apalachicola Bay oyster fishery, but the complaint was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2021.