Water Wars in Drought-Ridden Southeast

Aug. 14 -- A messy water war is pitting three drought-ravaged states against each other and the Supreme Court may be forced to settle the matter.

Georgia, Alabama and Florida have been fighting for years over two river systems that give life to the Southeast. In 1997 they agreed to form an interstate compact to hammer out an agreement on how the rivers should be used.

But now, three years, five extensions and at least $20 million later, there’s no agreement in sight. If they can’t break the stalemate, the Supreme Court will likely be called upon to impose an agreement — a prospect none of the states relish. Currently, there is no interstate system in place for managing the river systems and balancing these competing interests, which directly affect some 6 million people in the region.

Perhaps the only thing the sides agree upon now is that there simply will not be enough water to satisfy every interest group in each state.

Oysters vs. Water Skiers?

Battle No. 1 is between Georgia and Alabama for control of the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) river basin — a sprawling complex of rivers that extends about 320 miles from northwest Georgia down diagonally to near the southwest corner of Alabama. All three states are involved in a second battle over the massive Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river basin, which runs down the Alabama-Georgia border into the Florida coast.

Florida says it’s primarily worried about ensuring a clean, adequate water supply for Apalachicola Bay, which produces 70 percent of the state’s oysters, and remains a largely unspoiled natural preserve.

The environmental organization American Rivers describes the two basins as among the most biodiverse freshwater systems in the country, home to hundreds of native fish and aquatic species. It ranks them fifth on its list of most endangered rivers in the nation.

Georgia, meanwhile, is focusing on urban supply issues, farming, hydroelectric power production, and lake levels, which affect water recreation and drought reserves.