SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A federal judge is recommending that Georgia prevail in a longstanding legal battle with Florida over water consumption from rivers shared by the states, though the final decision rests with the U.S. Supreme Court.
The neighboring Southern states have been fighting since the 1990s over Georgia’s use of water from the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers that serve booming metro Atlanta and southern Georgia’s abundant farms before flowing to the Apalachicola River that’s crucial to Florida’s oyster fisheries.
Florida wants the courts to limit how much water Georgia uses, saying Florida residents have been harmed by reduced flows downstream from Apalachicola River into Apalachicola Bay and the nearby Gulf of Mexico. Among other problems, Florida blames Georgia for the drastic decline of its once lucrative oyster fishery.
The Supreme Court last year appointed U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Kelly Jr. of New Mexico to review the case. Kelly issued his findings in a 96-page ruling Wednesday that recommends the high court reject Florida’s request to impose limits on Georgia’s water usage through 2050.
“The evidence has not shown harm to Florida caused by Georgia,” Kelly wrote. “The evidence has shown that Georgia’s water use is reasonable; and the evidence has not shown that the benefits of apportionment would substantially outweigh the potential harms.”