Perdue's office likes new Corps water-sharing plan

ATLANTA - The governor's office says a new water-sharing plan proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers appears to be a positive development.

Negotiations among the governors of Florida, Georgia and Alabama broke down in February. That prompted Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to say that the federal government would impose its own solution.

The plan would allow greater storage in upstream lakes - such as Lanier - and would lower river flows into Florida's Apalachicola Bay. The corps acknowledged that is likely to harm threatened species, but it could bring some relief to metro Atlanta, which depends on the Chattahoochee River and Lake Lanier for most of its water.

Bert Brantley, a spokesman for Governor Perdue, said yesterday that the state is still reviewing the effects of the full proposal. But he said it's a sign that things are moving forward.

The plan covers the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin that runs south into Florida along the Alabama line. Officials in both Florida and Alabama expressed opposition to changing the water flow requirements.