War Of Words Over Water Heats Up

Florida Governor Charlie Crist fired the latest salvo in the decades old Georgia-Florida-Alabama water war Wednesday evening. He sent a letter to President Bush asking him to deny Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's request for emergency drought relief.

Specifically, Crist wants the President to refuse to alter the amount of water the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases from Lake Lanier, which serves all three states.

Perdue claims the millions of gallons sent downstream every day is placing the drought-stricken resevoir and much of north Georgia in peril.

Crist claims "the Florida panhandle is facing economic peril as a result of insufficient water flows."

Read Crist's Letter to President Push (PDF)

Alabama Governor Bob Riley wrote a similar letter to the President earlier this week. He called any reduction in Lake Lanier releases "a radical step that would ignore the vital downstream interests of Alabama."

But Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is sticking to his guns. Speaking at a dried up dock on Troup County's West Point Lake on Thursday, Perdue likened the decades long dispute to an old west water war. He also warned that if Lake Lanier runs dry, all three states could lose. "Everybody needs to understand that if our resevoirs are drained, there will be no water to send downstream," Perdue said.

Alabama Governor Riley will have more to say on the water crisis at a Thursday morning news conference. Meanwhile, Georgia Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and State House Speaker Glenn Richardson will hold a morning news conference in Atlanta to discuss future water resevoir development.