Ruling leaves North Georgia with water crisis

[phantom power]

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue calls the ruling "a game changer." Says his spokesman, Bert Brantley: "It was unexpected. The fact he (the judge) would set the level back to a specific date was certainly very surprising."

Charles Bannister, county commission chairman in Gwinnett, a growth powerhouse that gets all of its drinking water from Lake Lanier, says: "It's devastating, or could be," he says. "Gwinnett would become a desert, perhaps."

If U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson's July 17 ruling set off trepidation here, it ignited celebrations downstream in Alabama and Florida. Those states have long eyed Atlanta's unchecked growth with concern, alleging that Georgia had no right to take unlimited drinking water from Lake Lanier.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-18-waterwar_N.htm