Unless Congress intervenes, millions of metro Atlantans will lose access to water from Lake Lanier by 2012.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is already making plans for that cut-off and opened a public comment period Thursday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can’t wait for Congress to decide the final chapter of Georgia’s on-going water war.

It has to plan now because of a federal judge ruled in July that metro Atlanta is illegally drawing water from Lake Lanier.

The judge gave Georgia three years to work out a water-sharing deal with neighboring states and get Congress’s approval … or be cut off.

Pat Robbins with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says, "These are the parameters that we will develop the water control manuals around based on the judge’s ruling, unless things change. So that’s what we are soliciting comments on."

People can submit their ideas on the Corps’ website for the next 45 days.

However, with that’s not the only place the public can have influence.

The Governors of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida face increasing pressure to work out a deal.

Tags: Congress, All Things Considered, water, Lake Lanier, tri-state water war, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, federal reservoir