February 11, 2014 — Reiterating its call for intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state of Florida in a court filing Monday squarely blamed the Apalachicola River’s freshwater woes on decades of Georgia “voraciously” consuming water in the tri-state river basin.
Florida sued Georgia last fall, seeking the court to cap Georgia’s overall water use at levels that existed in 1992. The complaint also asks for the appointment of a special master to “equitably” divide the waters in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin, which drains about 20,000 square miles in both states and Alabama. The move came after back-to-back droughts in the region contributed to a historic reduction of freshwater flow and caused the oyster fishery in Apalachicola Bay to collapse. Oysters need a briny mix of fresh and saltwater to thrive.
“For decades, Georgia has voraciously consumed the shared waters of the ACF Basin without legal constraint. The Apalachicola River has suffered, and an Apalachicola Bay fishery has collapsed — all while Georgia increased consumption, refused to negotiate in good faith, and deployed dilatory legal tactics,” Florida’ motion said. “Georgia alone is responsible for its unrelenting consumption of interstate waters and this Court is the only forum in which Florida may seek redress.”
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