//FL Gov Scott Suing Georgia In Latest Water War

FL Gov Scott Suing Georgia In Latest Water War

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water faucetFlorida Governor Rick Scott said on Tuesday that he plans to sue the state of Georgia in the US Supreme Court for siphoning off too much water from the Apalachicola River system. According to the Governor, the siphoning has caused a dramatic die-off of oysters, fish, and wetlands.

The Apalachicola River forms at the state line where the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers merge and flows 106 miles across the Panhandle into Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Florida, Alabama and Georgia have waged legal warfare for decades over allocation of the water, now used by power plants, agriculture and many Georgia cities.

“Because Georgia has not negotiated in good faith to fairly share the waters that flow between our two states, we are announcing today that Florida will bring suit in the U.S. Supreme Court next month to stop Georgia’s unchecked consumption of water that threatens the existence of Apalachicola fisheries and the future economic development of this region,” Scott said.

Scott said it has not yet been decided if Alabama would be included in the lawsuit.

Read more from the Orlando Sentinel here.