ATLANTA — The state of Georgia has won another legal case in its long-running “water wars” with Florida and Alabama.

A federal judge Monday sided with Georgia, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), and the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority in a dispute over allocation of water from Lake Allatoona.

The decision upheld the Corps’ decision in 2021 to grant Metro Atlanta’s water supply requests from the lake and allocate more of the reservoir to meet the long-term needs of Cartersville and Bartow County. The state of Alabama had challenged the federal agency’s decision, arguing it would allocate too much water from the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin to Georgia.

“Backed by thorough analysis, factfinding, and experience, the Corps determined that granting Georgia’s water-supply request would have little, if any, effect” on Alabama’s water needs, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan wrote in a 38-page decision. “The record is replete with evidence showing negligible or non-significant impacts.”

Danny Jackson, managing director of natural resources at the ARC, praised the ruling.

“We are pleased to have a final decision that brings long-awaited certainty to all ACT stakeholders after decades of litigation,” he said. “This ruling affirms our communities’ responsible management and investment in water resources. We look forward to collaboration with all of the stakeholders in our shared river basins to address water challenges together.”

In Georgia’s other long-running water wars battle with the state of Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court also sided with Georgia, ruling in 2021 that Florida failed to prove its allegations that Georgia’s water consumption from the Chattahoochee and Flint river systems caused the failure of Florida’s oyster industry in Apalachicola Bay.

Representatives of water supply systems in Gwinnett, Forsyth and Hall counties finalized an agreement with the state of Georgia the following year guaranteeing them water from Lake Lanier through 2050.