Two major developments regarding the water in Lake Lanier mean two decades of water wars are over, according to WSB legal analyst Ron Carlson.

“These decisions make sense,” he said. “They’ve both been favorable to Georgia.”

Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling overturning a federal court judge who decided Georgia could no longer derive drinking water for the Atlanta metro area from Lake Lanier. Instead, much of that water would have had to flow downstream to Alabama and Florida.

Then yesterday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ruled that it has the authority to decide whether it will grant Georgia’s request to accommodate the state’s water needs through 2030.

To do that, the Corps said it “must complete a thorough review, including public participation, of the environmental impacts, as well as the impacts of other reasonable alternatives.”

Carlson said that means Atlanta will get its drinking water. The only question, he said, is “how much.”