[Bill Hemmer, Cnn Anchor:] Across the southern U.S. and in Georgia, a drought is gripping much of the reason region, rather, in a stranglehold. A shortage of rain dating back to more than three years in some parts has caused water lines to plunge and tensions to soar. CNN's Brian Cabell shows how disputes over water rights have turned some state lines into battle lines. Brian, good morning.
[Brian Cabell, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning. We're in the middle of the Chattahoochee River network. We're at lake Eufaula in Alabama, right on the border. What we have here is essentially a water war among three states, three states battling for water. People upstream want more water, people in the middle want more water, people down in the bottom want more water. And this, frankly, will probably end up either in the courts or before Congress.
[Oscar Jackson, Water Activist:] If this goes to litigation, it's going to be last perhaps 10 years, it's going to be the biggest legal battle the East Coast has ever seen, and the most expensive.
[Cabell:] At issue: How is this water, especially in the midst of a drought, to be divided among Georgia, Alabama and Florida? The three states are now engaged in settlement talks. The lake's water flows down the Chattahoochee River through Georgia, along the Alabama border, then by way of the Apalachicola River into Florida. The Flint River's waters also flow from Georgia into Florida. Not only are the states vying for the water, but so are competing interests: farming, navigation, hydropower, environmental protection, and growing cities with growing needs.
[Bob Kerr, Georgia Water Negotiator:] It's our contention that it ought to be managed to meet human needs, principally, and then all other needs would be met secondarily.
[Cabell:] That's Georgia's view. And with Atlanta's exploding population, it wants to lock in plenty of water for the next few decades. But the state of Alabama says, not so fast.
[Gov. Don Siegelman , Alabama:] We cannot let Atlanta dictate the water policies for the rest of the Southeast.
[Cabell:] Many Alabama and Georgia farmers agree. They can't irrigate some of their fields this summer because lake and river levels are too low. Not enough water is being released upstream.
[Charlie Speake, Alabama Farmer:] There's been a lot of crying and complaining about it, but I don't know that, you know, that we're doing any good.
[Cabell:] It's a continuing refrain, that Atlanta has the money, the people and the clout to keep the water, and everybody else downstream suffers. Oyster harvesters in Apalachicola are also crying foul. There's not enough fresh water coming out of the river, they say, to produce a good, meaty crop.
[Bill Thomas, Pristine Oysters:] You know, we're here at the mouth of the Apalachicola River and we're the drain. You know, everybody turns the spigots on, and when it gets down here we get what's left over.
[Cabell:] Bottom line: Along this increasingly dry network of rivers and lakes, nobody's happy with their allotment of water and everybody's suspicious of everybody else. The deadline for a settlement of this water dispute is August 1. If the streets haven't agreed on how to distribute the water by then, then this probably will end up before the Supreme Court. As for the boaters out here on Lake Eufaula on this July 4, all they know is the water is extremely low, five feet below normal, the lowest it's been in some 35 years for this date. If you take a look at these boats back here, most of them need about four feet of clearance under them to navigate this channel. Right now, there's about five feet. Another foot down and they are sitting on the bottom. I'm Brian Cabell, CNN, live in Eufaula, Alabama.
[Daryn Kagan, Cnn Anchor:] Brian, thank you.