Florida files water lawsuit against Georgia in U.S. Supreme Court

Florida formally took its water dispute with Georgia to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi filed suit seeking injunctive relief against Georgia’s upstream water use in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basins, accusing Georgia of taking too much water for Metro Atlanta at the expense of the oysters — and the economy that relies on them — in the Apalachicola Bay.

Georgia officials have said they are entitled to draw what they need from Lake Lanier, and the courts recently have sided with them, tilting the playing field in the multi-decade “water wars.”