It was a case begun in the early 1980s and over the past three decades, the fight and the arguments over a three-state war over water may have changed, but the facts remained the same.

And now a federal appeals court judge agrees with those facts: Atlanta shouldn't be taking water from Lake Lanier for its water supply, and its insistence that the Corps of Engineers can grant that allowance is wrong.

In a decision handed down Friday, the judge ruled that only Congress can change the rules over water rights. He further ruled that Georgia's Lake Lanier and Buford Dam were created for hydroelectric generation and navigation, and Atlanta did not have the right to withdraw from it for its drinking water supply.

The decades-old battle over water involves Georgia, Alabama and Florida in two different river systems. Over that time, Georgia has been trying to divert water upstream for drinking water needs, a practice that can adversely affect downstream interests in Alabama and Florida.

Basically, Alabama's stand has been that poor planning on Atlanta's part doesn't constitute an emergency on its part, and Georgia had no claim to diverting the water.

The appellate court has agreed and thrown the decision back to Congress. Judge Paul Magnuson ordered the water withdrawals to be frozen at their current rate, and Congress has three years to solve the issue of a water sharing agreement among the three states.

If after three years, there is no such agreement, Magnuson further ordered that the water withdrawals will go back to the pre-litigation levels of the 1970s.

Those levels are much lower than present day, and it would be in Georgia's best interest to finally get on board with an agreement that is fair to all involved.

Perhaps, this will be the beginning of the end of water wars once and for all.