Three years after its formation, a tri-state river basin group hasn’t arrived at solutions to longstanding, thorny water-sharing issues.

However, “I think we all feel good at where we are, at this point and time, in that we’re trying to understand each other,” said Charles Stripling, chairman of ACF Stakeholders Inc.

“We are trying to work out what each of us feel we need in our part of the basin and understand what other people need in (other) parts of the basin,” he added.

ACF Stakeholders, made up of representatives throughout the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin straddling Georgia, Florida and Alabama, launched in 2009 amid what then had been a legal tug-of-war between the states over water in the basin, which runs from Northeast Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico and includes Lake Lanier.

The group’s governing board meets quarterly, just wrapping up a three-day session at Unicoi State Park in Helen.

Last year, Black & Veatch was brought on by the ACF Stakeholders to help begin developing what the group says will be a sustainable water management plan for the basin. Another firm, Atkins, is doing an “in-stream flow analysis,” said Stripling, a retired educator who lives in Camilla, just south of Albany.

ACF Stakeholders is “getting ready to get some information back from scientists in the next few months, and then we can start to come up with a plan,” he said. “We understand that once we (reach that point), then we’re going to have a lot of different ideas, but we’ll have a common data set.”

Wilton Rooks, who represents the Upper Chattahoochee subbasin and is a vice president with Lake Lanier Association, said he was pleased with last week’s meeting.

“We had some experts from other regions of the country who have had similar challenges, and they (were) very instructive and informative about things that went on in their area,” he said.

Rooks said he believes the group has functioned well in its short history.

“A lot of people have said that every time we meet and then decide to meet again, it’s a sign of success,” he said. “Everybody is still focused on their own needs but with the recognition that everybody else’s needs should be taken into consideration as well.

“And that’s a good thing. That’s the only way you’re going to get a lasting long-term agreement out of the situation.”

Historically, water-sharing issues have caused much friction between Georgia, Alabama and Florida, resulting in a flurry of lawsuits.

In July 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that water withdrawal was never a congressionally authorized use of Lake Lanier.

Later, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned Magnuson’s decision, finding that Atlanta has a legal claim to the water. Alabama, Florida and communities in South Georgia had argued that Atlanta uses too much water, harming wildlife, people and industries downstream.

And then, nearly three months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in the water dispute, effectively marking an end to the costly legal feud.

The issue’s legal history “never really comes up in terms of discussion” at ACF meetings, Rooks said. “There’s no undercurrent of one group has more rights than other groups.

“I think, from the get-go, there’s always been the understanding that if the governors ... or the legal system reaches a decision, those are just events. The long-term status of the watershed is a process and we need something like the stakeholders organization to deal with the future.”