On Friday, July 17, United States District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson for the middle district of Florida issued a ruling in the 20-year old Tri-State Water Rights Litigation favorable to Florida, Alabama, and the City of Apalachicola.
In a ninety-seven page order, Judge Magnuson stated that, “the Corps’s failure to seek Congressional authorization for the changes it has wrought in the operation of Buford Dam and Lake Lanier is an abuse of discretion and contrary to the clear intent of the Water Supply Act”.
Consequently, Magnuson granted in part Florida, Alabama and the City of Apalachicola’s motion for summary judgment.
In doing so, the judge stayed phase one of the litigation for three years to allow the U.S Army Corps of Engineers the opportunity to obtain Congressional authorization for the operational changes requested by the Metro-Atlanta area to Buford Dam.
During the stay, the Court ordered that the current level of water withdrawn from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system remain the same and ordered that the Corps not increase levels without an agreement from all parties involved, which includes the City of Apalachicola.
The Court further ruled that at the end of the three-year period, without Congressional approval or some other resolution, the level of water withdrawn would return to the baseline levels of mid-1970. That would require that the off-peak water flow return to 600 cfs and that only the Cities of Gainesville and Buford would have authorization to withdraw water from the system.
Judge Magnuson rightly recognized that the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers are not the sole blame for this dilemma, the judge cited as part of the problem local government’s allowance of unchecked growth and the like of sufficient planning for the resources unchecked growth requires.
By entering the historic lawsuit the City of Apalachicola has effectively secured itself a seat at the table, should anytime over the next three-years an agreement is negotiated outside of Congress, by the parties to the lawsuit. As a result, city officials are pleased with the outcome of the Court’s ruling.
The city entered the litigation on January 17, 2008, out of concern that the reduction of freshwater flow in the river system was causing irreparable harm to Apalachicola River and Bay and subsequently to the city’s way of life.
In a ninety-seven page order, Judge Magnuson stated that, “the Corps’s failure to seek Congressional authorization for the changes it has wrought in the operation of Buford Dam and Lake Lanier is an abuse of discretion and contrary to the clear intent of the Water Supply Act”.
Consequently, Magnuson granted in part Florida, Alabama and the City of Apalachicola’s motion for summary judgment.
In doing so, the judge stayed phase one of the litigation for three years to allow the U.S Army Corps of Engineers the opportunity to obtain Congressional authorization for the operational changes requested by the Metro-Atlanta area to Buford Dam.
During the stay, the Court ordered that the current level of water withdrawn from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system remain the same and ordered that the Corps not increase levels without an agreement from all parties involved, which includes the City of Apalachicola.
The Court further ruled that at the end of the three-year period, without Congressional approval or some other resolution, the level of water withdrawn would return to the baseline levels of mid-1970. That would require that the off-peak water flow return to 600 cfs and that only the Cities of Gainesville and Buford would have authorization to withdraw water from the system.
Judge Magnuson rightly recognized that the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers are not the sole blame for this dilemma, the judge cited as part of the problem local government’s allowance of unchecked growth and the like of sufficient planning for the resources unchecked growth requires.
By entering the historic lawsuit the City of Apalachicola has effectively secured itself a seat at the table, should anytime over the next three-years an agreement is negotiated outside of Congress, by the parties to the lawsuit. As a result, city officials are pleased with the outcome of the Court’s ruling.
The city entered the litigation on January 17, 2008, out of concern that the reduction of freshwater flow in the river system was causing irreparable harm to Apalachicola River and Bay and subsequently to the city’s way of life.
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