UPDATED
Perdue: Alabama Trying To Dry Georgia Up; We're Not Going To Let It Happen

Update at 3:57 p.m. adds latest Perdue comments; Cagle and Richardson planning news conference. New material highlighted.)

(10/24/07) Some new developments in the battle against drought in Georgia today:

First, a feisty Gov. Sonny Perdue continued lambasting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Service, and added neighboring Alabama Gov. Bob Riley to the mix. “Alabama is trying to use these insane rules of the Fish and Wildlife and the Corps of Engineers to dry Georgia up, and we’re not going to let it happen.”

At the same time, he used the drought to push for legislative passage next year of a statewide water plan proposal that already is dividing downstream users from metro Atlanta.

Second, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson announced they will hold a joint news conference at the Capitol Thursday morning to discuss future reservoir development. Both have called in recent days for the state to build more regional reservoirs as a hedge against future drought. The proposal goes all the way back to the late 1980s.

Perdue commented in a news conference on the banks of an obviously dwindling Lake West Point, even as a light rain fell. “This rain doesn’t make a bit of difference,” he said. “Under the Corps’ nonsensical operating plan, we can’t store excess rainwater. It all gets flushed downstream.”

He hurled words like “negligence” and “culpability” at federal bureaucrats and said Georgia, which already has filed suit, is prepared even to ask the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency hearing if that should prove to be in the state’s best interests.

“We’re not demanding an end to all water releases. Just a more reasonable rate ... If our reservoirs are drained, there will be no water to send downstream.”

At one point, he suggested there “may be ulterior motives” in Alabama’s opposition to his request for a federal emergency declaration and a temporary exempting from the federal Endangered Species Act.

Asked if Alabama’s position “gummed up the works,” he said, “It doesn’t gum up the works; it doesn’t make any sense.”

When one reporter asked about criticism that the drought was partly due to a failure to curb unbridle growth in Atlanta, Perdue replied, “Next question.”

Asked if the critics were correct, he answered, “No.”

The governor said Georgians must be better stewards of the water.

"Good stewardship is conserving in the short term and in the long term. Good stewardship also means a vision for wise water use in the future. It also means passage of a statewide comprehensive plan that's been in the works for more than two years," he said.

Last night, Perdue said he thinks he’s gotten President Bush’s attention with his plea for federal aid for the state’s drought, although he didn’t predict what kind of decision the President would make.

“We’ve talked with the White House today,” he said on a live television special aired by WSB-TV during prime time Tuesday. “We’ve been contacted today by the chairman of the Environmental Quality Council, and he says they’re working on it. I think there are some sincere efforts. I think we’ve obviously gotten the President’s attention. He spoke with our senators today, as well. And I think, hopefully, we’ll get some action quickly.”

His comments came just hours after he ordered a 10 percent reduction in water use by north Georgia permit holders – those who have state permission to use huge quantities of water – and a few hours after both of the state’s senators and the entire congressional delegation sent a letter to the President endorsing Perdue’s request for a federal emergency designation to drought-stricken counties and a relaxation of rules requiring what state critics are calling an excess release of water from the state’s reservoirs into the Chattahoochee river basin.

The Chattahoochee’s waters are shared downstream by Alabama and Florida, states which also have Republican governors and which have been battling Georgia for two decades on how the water should be shared.

During the TV special, the Corps of Engineer’s Col. Byron Jorns said his agency is quickly trying to reassess exactly how much water needs to be released from Lake Lanier and other reservoirs to meet the mandates of the federal Endangered Species Act, but he also declared that metro Atlanta is not about to go thirsty even if the “conservation pool” of water in the reservoirs is depleted. “Once the conservation poll is exhausted, there is still substantial - on the order of 22,000 acres of water - still residing in the pool …”

But Perdue said most of the water intakes are in the conservation pool, rather than in the lower water he said the Corps refers to as the “dead pool.” He added, “We don’t know what’s down here and, frankly, we don’t know how much water’s there. And I’m not sure I want my children to drink that.”

The order for withdrawal cutbacks applies to all non-farm permit holders, who will be required to achieve a 10 percent reduction compared to their usage last winter season.

“In this unprecedented drought, we all have to pitch in and find ways to conserve our most recious resource,” said Perdue. “A 10 percent reduction in water use is a first step, and we will continue to evaluate our drought response and encourage additional conservation as needed.”

The revised permit restrictions will be in place beginning November 1 and will continue as necessary. Georgia EPD will enforce permit restrictions and impose fines for noncompliance, the governor's office said..

“Many communities already have successful conservation programs in place,” Perdue said. “I encourage all Georgians to make their dry lawns and dirty cars a badge of honor. By making individual conservation efforts, along with reasonable solutions from our federal government, we can collectively help to ensure that our water supply is sufficient.”

The 61 counties include Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Elbert, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Franklin, Fulton, Gilmer, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Haralson, Harris, Hart, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Lincoln, Lumpkin, Madison, Meriwether, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Rabun, Rockdale, Spalding, Stephens, Towns, Troup, Union, Walker, Walton, White, Whitfield and Wilkes.

The northern third of Georgia already is is under Level 4 drought restrictions, or a complete outdoor watering ban.

Perdue also is pursuing other options. Last week, the state filed a motion for preliminary injunction in federal court in Florida seeking to require the Army Corps of Engineers to restrict water flows from Lake Lanier and Georgia’s federal reservoirs.