In 2012, Florida’s famed Apalachicola Bay oyster industry collapsed. In 2013, the federal government declared a fishery disaster, and in 2014 Florida sued Georgia, arguing that state was responsible for the failure. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Monday, but as the two states await a decision, some key players say the issue won’t end with the ruling.
In 2012, Florida’s famed Apalachicola Bay oyster industry collapsed. In 2013, the federal government declared a fishery disaster, and in 2014 Florida sued Georgia, arguing that state was responsible for the failure. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Monday, but as the two states await a decision, some key players say the issue won’t end with the ruling.
A resolution in the decades-long fights over water between Georgia and Florida is probably still a long way off. Even a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in the case it’s hearing in the water wars, which the states argued Monday morning for the second time, is likely months away.
But one thing was made clear in Monday’s arguments: Florida, in its request to the court to limit Georgia’s water use, says that it is not coming after municipal water users in its case against Georgia.
That would include Atlanta.
Earlier in the case filed in 2013, Florida had criticized both metro Atlanta’s water use from the Chattahoochee River and southwest Georgia farmers’ water use from the Flint River. On Monday, Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Florida’s attorney, Gregory Garre, whether that was still the case.
Photo courtesy WFSU
The Jim Woodruff Dam is in Chattahoochee Florida. It’s here, where the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers join to form the Apalachicola, home to a Bay that used to be famed for its seafood harvests, most notably its oysters.
When rain is plentiful in south Georgia, water flows freely into Florida. But when there’s drought, as there was for ten consecutive months in 2012, water stays behind the dam. And this is a source of conflict between the states.
“We’re not asking for a great amount of water more. We’re just asking for an equal share of water.” This is oysterman Shannon Hartsfield in 2012, during the drought. The Apalachicola Bay oyster fishery had just crashed. It still hasn’t recovered. In a more recent interview, Hartsfield said he hasn’t harvested oysters in nearly a decade.
WFSU is partnering with WABE in Atlanta for a look at Florida’s Supreme Court case against Georgia, from both sides. Molly Samuel from WABE is covering the perspective from Georgia’s Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers, and WFSU’s Rob Diaz de Villegas is covering the perspective from Florida’s Apalachicola River and Bay.
Each produced a radio story, and collaborated in writing the following post.
Florida vs. Georgia- What’s at Stake in Florida, by Rob Diaz de Villegas of WFSU in Tallahassee.
Florida vs. Georgia- What’s at Stake in Georgia, Molly Samuel of WABE in Atlanta.
In Apalachicola, Florida, fishermen measure their connection to the bay in generations. Apalachicola Bay was once famed for its seafood harvests, most notably its oysters.