COLUMBUS – Gov. Sonny Perdue outlined his next steps in the “water wars” case with Alabama and Florida, calling for a four-pronged attack that includes appeal of a federal judge’s ruling and negotiations with the other states.

Since a federal judge’s ruling last month that metro Atlanta can’t use Lake Lanier for drinking water, Perdue has called for Alabama and Florida’s governors to come back to the negotiating table. He also said Wednesday the state is making contingency plans to create other water sources, such as new reservoirs, and is calling for Congress to reauthorize Lanier for drinking water. Judge Paul Magnuson has given the state three years for Congress to take that action.

The session with downstream stakeholders on the Chattahoochee basin was meant to show Perdue hasn’t forgotten about the rest of the state, even though the judge’s ruling focused on Lake Lanier.

“I’m not going to take a deal for the sake of taking a deal,” Perdue said. “I have never, nor will I ever, agree to any deal giving the middle Chattahoochee less water than it needs. That would be a dumb deal, to trade one part of the state for another.

That sentiment, along with one of Perdue’s more directed comments, gave West Point Lake users reason for hope.

Billy Turner, past president of Columbus Water Works, told Perdue that if guaranteed flows along the river ever are a part of any deal, “we’d like one.”

Perdue told Turner that Columbus needs to focus on upgrading its wastewater treatment plant instead of relying on high water flows to dilute potential pollution.

“Columbus is going to need a new treatment plant, even if you got a flow of 5,000 (cubic feet per second),” Perdue said.

For more information on the governor’s meeting and comments from locals who attended, read Thursday’s LaGrange Daily News.