Less water use in Atlanta but no clear reason why | www.ajc.com

ATLANTA — Georgia’s leaders say that conservation rules are reducing water use in metro Atlanta as they fight with Florida over water rights, but it’s not entirely clear why consumption has dropped.

Florida asked the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month to determine how much water Georgia can take from the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. They merge at the Florida line to form the Apalachicola River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico and feeds a vital oyster fishery. In the lawsuit, Florida officials say metro Atlanta and its thirsty suburbs use too much water and kill off Florida’s oysters.

It’s the latest version of a water feud between Alabama, Florida and Georgia that traces back more than 20 years. Georgia officials say the river system is now flush with record rainfall and that other factors, include overfishing, contributed to the oyster die-off. They are building a political defense around the idea that metro Atlanta is using less water.

“Our conservation efforts have decreased metro Atlanta’s water use even as our population has grown substantially, and Georgia offered a framework for an agreement which never received a response from Florida,” said Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Gov. Nathan Deal, in an Oct. 1 statement responding to the Florida lawsuit.

Various measures show that water use in metro Atlanta has decreased. Information collected by Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division shows that water usage by the nine counties surrounding Atlanta dropped about 2 percent last year compared to 2010, when Georgia adopted a law setting conservation requirements. That data does not measure agricultural usage.

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