I was proud to be standing with Gov. Rick Scott when he recently announced that Florida would take historic legal action to protect the environment, economy and people of Apalachicola Bay and Northwest Florida.
This effort, to ensure that Florida is treated fairly as water demands continue to increase upstream, is not the slightest bit “frivolous.” It exemplifies Gov. Scott’s commitment to fighting for the future of Florida families that depend on freshwater from the Apalachicola River to put food on their tables.
For 20 years, Florida has attempted to relieve the economic and environmental harm caused by reduced water flows and increased consumption by Georgia in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basins, both through legal challenges to the Army Corps of Engineers’ water management practices and negotiations with Georgia and Alabama.
In that time, Georgia’s demands on the ACF system continued to grow. Georgia now uses more than 90 percent of the water withdrawn from the system. Florida uses a mere 2.5 percent. Metro Atlanta alone withdraws 360 million gallons per day from the Chattahoochee River — three times greater, for the amount of water for public supply, than all 16 counties and municipalities of the Florida Panhandle combined. This use is expected to nearly double to 705 million gallons per day by 2035 if it continues to grow unchecked.
However, it’s not just Atlanta. We see this dominating use even when comparing agricultural withdrawals among the states. In 2005, Georgia had nearly 7,200 center-pivot irrigation systems in the ACF basin, pumping hundreds of million of gallons per day. The number of center pivots in southwest Georgia has increased dramatically, to an estimated 9,200 today — 38 times the number of such systems in the Florida portion of the basin.
We can talk about conservation, but you can’t ignore sheer massive consumption.
Apalachicola River flows have been lower, and low flows have occurred more frequently and for longer durations, than at any other time in recorded history.
Some people like to point at drought; 2012 set a record for the least amount of water delivered to Apalachicola Bay since record-keeping began in 1923. But it wasn’t the year with the least rainfall.
Georgia’s demands on the ACF system have placed in peril an extraordinarily productive estuarine system that has sustained oyster harvesting, shrimping, crabbing and fishing for generations.
One economy should not deprive another of the lifeblood needed for survival.
This historically vibrant and economically important ecosystem cannot be replaced. Negotiations have been unproductive. Customary litigation has been fruitless. Florida has no choice but to address the problem by filing an “original action” with the U.S. Supreme Court. This suit differs greatly from previous legal actions in that it is an equitable proceeding reserved for disputes between states and should supply us with an answer sooner rather than later.
Gov. Scott knows the Apalachicola Bay and its people can’t wait another 20 years.
Jon Steverson is executive director of the Northwest Florida Water Management District, which is responsible for managing water resources in the region that includes the Apalachicola River and Bay.
