The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to step in to resolve a long-running dispute between Florida and Georgia. As noted in my previous post, it is the second Florida case on the Supreme Court’s docket this term that involves Florida’s commercial fishing industry.
Profound economic implications are at stake for each state.
For Georgia, the outcome could determine the sustainability of continued growth of the state’s largest metropolitan area. For Florida, the outcome may impact the economic prospects of commercial fishermen and a region of the panhandle.
Environmental concerns are also in play. Hanging in the balance is the welfare of a biodiverse natural area, protected species of mussels, and spawning grounds for Gulf sturgeon, a threatened species.
Apalachicola vs. Atlanta
As is true of many disputes between states, water rights are at issue in Florida v. Georgia. More specifically, the dispute centers around Georgia’s consumption of water from the Chattahoochee River (as well as Lake Lanier, which feeds the Chattahoochee) and the Flint River. Both rivers flow south from the Atlanta area before converging near the Georgia-Florida border to form the Apalachicola River:
From there, the Apalachicola River flows south through the Florida panhandle into the Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Due in significant part to freshwater inflow from the river, the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay are rich in biodiversity, so much so that the bay and a large section of the river and its floodplain have been designated a National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Among the many wildlife species making their homes in the Apalachicola Bay are endangered and threatened species of mussels. The bay also serves as spawning habitat for Gulf Sturgeon, a threatened species.
And the inflow of fresh water from the Apalachicola River has made the Apalachicola Bay fertile breeding ground for oysters. Historically, the bay has been Florida’s prime location for commercial oyster harvesting.
But that has changed in recent years. Oyster harvests were down 60% in 2013, leading the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to declare a commercial fishery failure. This year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has implemented severe restrictions on harvesting, and is considering closing the oyster harvest in the bay altogether.
The loss of oysters in Apalachicola Bay coincides with decreasing inflows from the Apalachicola River, resulting in increased salinity in the bay, making conditions less favorable for oysters. According to Florida, the decreased inflow is the result of Georgia taking more than its fair share of water upstream, resulting in smaller quantities of water flowing downstream.
As the Atlanta metropolitan area has grown, Georgia has steadily increased consumption of water that would otherwise flow from the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers into the Apalachicola River and Bay. But Georgia denies that its consumption has harmed the Apalachicola. In opposing Florida’s request for the Court to hear the case, Georgia asserted that Florida’s real issue is with the Army Corps of Engineers, which controls water releases upstream dams. It also said the decreased flow to the Apalachicola is attributable to droughts in recent years, not Georgia’s consumption of water.
The dispute has been building since 1989, when the Army Corps of Engineers first proposed allocating more water to Georgia. Georgia, Florida, and Alabama reached temporary agreements for water use to maintain an uneasy status quo for a time. It was followed by litigation involving (but not directly between) all three states, the Army Corps of Engineers, and a group of power customers that buy power generated from a dam on Lake Lanier.
Finally, in 2013, Florida opted to sue Georgia directly, and asked the Supreme Court to intervene. With the Supreme Court’s recent decision to accept the case, Florida will now get its day in court. By extension, so will the Apalachicola Bay and its commercial oyster fishing industry.
Not Your Typical Supreme Court Case
Florida v. Georgia is an original proceeding, which means the Supreme Court will be the first and last court to address the dispute. In most cases, the Supreme Court serves as an appellate court reviewing the decision of a lower appellate court. It generally decides purely legal issues, with facts developed long before a case reaches the Supreme Court.
Disputes between states are a different animal. Under Article III, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, in “all Cases…in which a State shall be a Party, the Supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction.” Based on that constitutional provision, Congress has enacted 28 U.S.C. section 1251(a), under which the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction is exclusive (meaning it is the only court in which suit may be brought) in any suit in which one state is suing another.
But the Supreme Court has discretion to decide whether such a suit is appropriate for resolution by the Court. A state wishing to sue another state must ask the Court for permission to file its complaint, which Florida did in October 2013.
Before deciding whether to take Florida’s case, the Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General of the United States (the federal government’s Supreme Court counsel) for its views on whether the case should be accepted. Although the Solicitor General suggested waiting to hear the dispute until after the Army Corps of Engineers has revised its own procedures, the Supreme Court decided that the case should be heard now.
The litigation will now begin in earnest, beginning with Georgia filing an answer to the complaint. Because the Supreme Court is not a trial court generally engaged in deciding disputed facts, the Court generally appoints a special master to conduct initial proceedings. The special master prepares a report, with findings and recommendations, either party can object to the report, and the Supreme Court reviews the special master’s report, considers any objections, and issues an opinion.
Ultimately, the question for the Supreme Court is how to equitably apportion the rivers’ water. In other words, it will decide the fairest way to allocate water among the states’ competing interests. That decision will affect the future of natural resources, industry, and citizens of both states.