By Alabama Public Radio
Atlanta, GA – The ruling by the Eleventh U-S Circuit Court yesterday reverses earlier decisions by a federal district court in Alabama. Those decisions blocked metro Atlanta from getting the additional water that state and local officials say is necessary for metro Atlanta to accommodate anticipated growth. Alabama and Florida do NOT want metro Atlanta to have the additional water. Those states and Georgia -- which share the Chattahoochee River -- have been fighting about the water since 1990. The river supplies metro Atlanta residents with most of their water and is used by Alabama for industry and barges. At the lower end, Florida wants enough water in the river to serve future development. Yesterday's ruling sends the case back to the Alabama court. It could allow metro Atlanta to take up to 50 percent more water out of the lake and river. If the ruling stands, metro Atlanta eventually would be able to take up to 537 million gallons of water a day out of the lake and river below it. State environmental officials say the region safely could take up to 705 million gallons a day. But that estimate never has been scientifically verified, and some experts disagree with it.