Water Crisis Has Florida vs Georgia in Supreme Court
No water no life B. McPherson Growing cities, agriculture, industry are all taking their toll on limited resources. Florida, Georgia and Alabama are locked in a decades long fight over water. Florida has now filed court action with the US Supreme Court over water use in Lake Sidney Lanier. Florida is claiming a foul in Atlanta’s continuing use of the lake water for the growing metropolis. Lake Lanier was created in the ‘40s by damming the Chattahoochie River. It has become the largest lake in Georgia. The lake started filling in 1956. Since 1990 the three states have been squabble over water usage. In 2007 water usage by the Atlanta region had drawn the lake level down to record levels. It was not until 2008 that Georgia settled on their first water use plan. At stake is the health of the oyster industry in Florida’s Apalachicola Bay which supplies the US with 10% of its fresh oysters. At least it did until recently. Starting in 2007 a steep decline led to a drastically...