By Associated Press
Washington, DC – Lawmakers caught in a tri-state struggle over water Thursday called the Army Corps of Engineers rigid and unresponsive to local needs amid a record Southern drought.
The comments came during a round-table discussion on Capitol Hill.
The corps has frequently played referee in the years-long ''water wars'' between Alabama, Georgia and Florida. And each state has accused the agency of favoring the others in deciding water allocations from the region's two major river basins.
The corps' recent proposal to hold back more water for the Atlanta area's shrinking water supply -- a plan ratified by the states' governors at a meeting in Washington last week -- has only exacerbated those concerns.
The Bush administration last week brokered a temporary agreement. It says the corps would hold back about 16 percent more water in Georgia to help bolster Atlanta's water supply while the state's three governors work toward a long-term agreement by early next year.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)