1. Florida and Alabama do not have more-than-enough water. Flows in the Apalachicola River have been perilously low in recent years, and this can be attributed in part to increased consumption in Metropolitan Atlanta.

2. The water is not rightfully Atlanta’s. The water belongs to all users in the watershed and the water should be managed on a system-wide basis. The water allocation formula should ensure adequate supplies of water, of an adequate quality, to all users in the basin to assure both ecologic and economic sustainability for the basin as a whole.

The ultimate solution under the path this process is leading will be Alabama and Florida agreeing to “sell” part of their more-than-enough supply back to Atlanta – at a ridiculous premium. And we’ll end up paying other states for water that is already sitting in our reservoir.

Purdue should be playing hardball, and should have assigned the task force to look at building another reservoir downstream of Lanier that would simply accept Lanier’s output, and pump it right back up to Atlanta… the original authorization only placed guidelines on what Atlanta could withdraw from Lanier, but says nothing about what Atlanta can withdraw from further upstream or downstream of Lanier.

But Purdue seems consigned to just giving up water that not only powers the economic engine of the state, but is rightfully ours anyway. Meanwhile Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Birmingham are all salivating at the idea of the price of metro Atlanta’s utilities going through the roof.