Water Wars Reach U.S. Supreme Court

This month, attorneys for Florida and Georgia appeared for oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in an original jurisdiction case previously tried before an assigned Special Master back in 2016. A ruling in the decades-long "Water Wars" case came in the form of a recommendation favoring Georgia following the filing of post-trial briefs of each state. Florida seeks to limit Georgia’s water consumption from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, including Lake Lanier, to 1992 levels and to get reparations for alleged economic and environmental harm to Apalachicola's oyster fisheries from drought. The dispute focuses on the river basin which drains almost 20,000 square miles in western Georgia, eastern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The Chattahoochee and Flint rivers meet at the Georgia-Florida border to form the Apalachicola, which flows into the bay and the Gulf of Mexico beyond. Special Master, Ralph I. Lancaster, Jr., had strongly advised the states to settle out of court rather than live with a costly decision neither will like. The states mediated the case and even had a post-trial mediation. Florida still seeks a cap on consumption that would alleviate past damage allegedly caused by Georgia. The Sunshine State reportedly gleaned a ray of hope from the high court proceedings. “It’s common sense that that water, if left unattended, would flow down stream,” a testifying riverkeeper in Florida said, a sentiment that appeared to resonate with some of the justices. Justice Elena Kagan acknowledged that Florida had “common sense” on its side. “Can we agree that a cap at the very least would prevent the situation in Florida from getting worse?” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked. Chief Justice John Roberts also weighed in when confronted with the role of the Army Corps of Engineers, “It seems to me it's asking an awful lot of Florida to have to say: We know that the Corps is going to change things the way it benefits us.” A final ruling may not come for months. See more in stories here-- https://usat.ly/2rlbS6J and http://fxn.ws/2Dj8n5j