Meeting to address Tri-State Water War

ATLANTA - What can Alabama, Georgia and Florida learn from water sharing from four other states who dealt with a similar situation nearly half a century ago? That question will be addressed in Atlanta next week.

The 2008 Randolph Thrower Forum, presented by The Civic League for Regional Atlanta, will highlight the Tri-State Water War and how it compares with a fight 45 years ago involving Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania over water in the Delaware River.

In the Delaware River case, the four states involved bound themselves in an agreement over how to share the Delaware River.

What are the lessons learned by the Delaware River Basin Commission? Can those lessons shed light on a path to resolve the 18-year struggle involving Alabama, Florida, and Georgia over the waters shared by these three states?

Thus far, the league says, stakeholders from the headwaters of the Chattahoochee to Apalachicola Bay have found much to disagree about. And, asks: On what, if anything, can these stakeholders find common ground? What mechanisms might transform the current contentious debate into a constructive, fact-based collaboration? What are the costs to the watershed, and to our region, if the various parties fail to come together?

The keynote address will be delivered by Carol Collier, executive director of the Delaware River Basin Commission. There will be a panel discussion which will include remarks by Chick Krautler, director of the Atlanta Regional Commission; Wilton Rooks, vice president of the Lake Lanier Association; Dick Timmerberg, executive director of the West Point Lake Coalition; and Dan Tonsmeire, Apalachicola Riverkeeper.

The meeting will be held Tuesday, Nov. 11 from 6â