The U.S. Corps of Engineers had worked out a deal with Georgia that changed the way it was handling the Lake Lanier reservoir in Georgia to provide more water for Atlanta. Alabama and Florida sued. While the deal was never fully implemented, it did give Georgia the upper hand, since it had been upheld in courts.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. changed that today and said Alabama and Florida are right that this kind of change requires Congressional action: "Because the Agreement'??s reallocation of Lake Lanier'??s storage space constitutes a major operational change on its face and has not been authorized by Congress, we reverse the district court'??s approval of the Agreement."

Check out the opinion here.

"The Corps may understandably be of the view that it faces a 'difficult situation,'...and is attempting to balance multiple interests and achieve a 'creative solution,' " the judges wrote. "However, Congress envisioned that changed circumstances or 'difficult situations' might arise and specified that any solution involving 'major operational . . . changes' required its prior authorization."