ATLANTA — The state of Georgia is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to address metro Atlanta's need for an increased water supply from Allatoona Lake.
It's a political tug of war. The lake and its water supply are at the center.
On Friday, Georgia along with the Atlanta Regional Commission and Cobb Marietta Watershed Management filed a federal lawsuit urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allocate a bigger share of the drinking water to metro Atlanta.
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens says this is an issue that impacts people across the region.
"So the suit today specifically requests that the Corps promptly start that process and take into account the supply needs of our state," Olens said.
Olens says right now, metro Atlanta has the same share
of the lake's water that it did in the 1950s. And, he says, for more than 30 years the state has asked the Corps of Engineers to take into account how much the metro has grown.
"The Army has yet to respond," said Katherine Zitsch with the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Zitsch says that makes it extremely difficult for the region to plan for the future. "As population grows and businesses come to Cobb County and the surrounding area, they need to increase their water supply."
The lawsuit is asking a federal court to essentially force the Army to address this issue and not let political pressure from neighboring states stand in the way.
"We're not trying to tell the Corps what the outcome should be, we're just trying to tell the Corps to do their authorized job," Olens said.
"It's basically a political logjam, in my mind. The Army is afraid to answer because they're afraid to upset the state of Alabama," said Zitsch.
We called and emailed the Army Corps of Engineers Friday. Its spokesmen referred us to the Department of Justice, which has yet to respond to this lawsuit.
WSBTV
