Judge again rules against Georgia in water fight

ATLANTA - A judge has again ruled against Georgia in the tri-state water wars, refusing to agree Monday that an order he issued in July was a final judgment in the case and saying it does not provide injunctive relief as the state claims.

Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled in July that it is illegal for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to draw water from Lake Lanier to meet the needs of metro Atlanta's 3.5 million residents. He stayed the case for three years to give Georgia, Alabama and Florida time to work out a water-sharing plan.

The Georgia parties, which include the state, the Atlanta Regional Commission and the city of Atlanta, are seeking an appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

They say Magnuson's order constitutes an injunction, which would give them one avenue of immediate appeal, but the judge discounted that in a three-page order Monday.

"No injunctive relief was ordered or intended by the court's July 17, 2009, order," he wrote.

Separately, the Georgia parties had asked Magnuson to enter a final judgment in a lawsuit the state filed in 2000 when it sought a permanent reallocation of about 34 percent of Lake Lanier's water for Atlanta.

This is one of seven lawsuits that have been consolidated and put before Magnuson in the water wars litigation. In his July order, Magnuson denied Georgia's request for the permanent reallocation of Lake Lanier's water, saying a prior ruling by the federal appeals court in Washington had foreclosed the issue.

If Magnuson were to agree that that decision constituted a "final judgment," this would give Georgia a second avenue of appeal. But on Monday, Magnuson refused to enter a final judgment.

The judge also and frowned upon the state's continued litigation of the matter, saying an appeal would only delay and further complicate the resolution of claims.

Gil Rogers, a staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said Georgia needs to get the message.

"If the signal the judge sent in July wasn't clear enough, it's now become that much more clear," Rogers said. "He's setting the framework for the parties to finally resolve this 20-year-old dispute."

Magnuson said the matter was stayed for three years to allow the parties and the political system to attempt to reach a solution and he "fully anticipates" a resolution will made before the deadline.

Bert Brantley, a spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue, said Georgia will continue its appeals and said it's up to the 11th Circuit to decide whether it will hear them.

On Monday, Doug Tobin, press secretary for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said the state agrees with Magnuson's ruling on Monday.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley also believes Magnuson was right, the governor's spokesman, Todd Stacy, said. "It's time for everyone to stop playing games and get back to the negotiating table," he said.