State of Florida Files Suit Against Georgia over Apalachicola Bay

Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Tuesday that the state of Florida has filed suit against Georgia for its refusal to "share the waters" ofApalachicola Bay.

Georgia has refused to fairly share the waters that flow between our two states, so to stop Georgias unmitigated consumption of water we have brought the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. Georgias overconsumption of water threatens the existence of Apalachicola Bay and the future economic development of the region," said Scott. "Generations of Florida families have relied upon these waters for their livelihood, but now risk losing their way of life if Georgias actions are not stopped. Through this historic legal action we are fighting for the future of Apalachicola Bay and its families. After 20 years of failed negotiations with Georgia, this is our only way forward in securing the economic future of Northwest Florida.

Florida and Alabama have each sought relief from harm caused by reduced flows and increased Georgia consumption in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river basins over the past 20 years through legal challenges, but have met with little success.

But Florida now proposes to address the problem squarely an Original Action filed with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking injunctive relief against Georgias unmitigated and unsustainable upstream consumption of water from the Chattahoochee and Flint River basins.

The Metro-Atlanta area primarily obtains its water from the Chattahoochee River, with withdrawals totaling 360 million gallons per day, with Georgias consumption expected to nearly double to approximately 705 million gallons per day by 2040.

Historically-low water levels brought about by Georgias large consumption of water have caused oysters to die because of higher salinity, increased disease and predator intrusion in the bay, according to a press release from Bondi's office. Until recently, Apalachicola Bay accounted for approximately 10 percent of the nations Eastern oyster supply. However, the oyster industry in Apalachicola collapsed in 2012 after years of reduced flows of fresh water into the bay, leading Scott to seek and obtain a Commercial Fisheries Disaster Declaration from the U.S. Department of Commerce earlier this year.