The Florida-Georgia U.S. Supreme Court water dispute hit a courtroom for the first time Tuesday, as Georgia attempted to get the case tossed and the special master presiding over the case pleaded for a settlement.
It was the first chance for attorneys and the public to get a sense of special master Ralph Lancaster, as previous meetings on the case had been conducted by phone. The bespectacled, 85-year-old Maine-based attorney, sporting a red bow tie, was polite but direct in his questioning of the attorneys.
As he has in court papers and on conference calls, Lancaster gave a forceful pitch that he should not be the one to decide the case.
“Whatever the result is … we are talking a lot of money and a result you may not like,” Lancaster said. “Again and again and again I’m going to urge you to discuss a settlement seriously.”
Gov. Nathan Deal has conducted secret meetings with his counterparts in Alabama and Florida, but there is no indication that an amicable resolution is in sight.
Florida wants to return Georgia's water withdrawals from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin to 1992 levels, saying that the state's present consumption causes "ecological, environmental and economic harm" to the Apalachicola Bay, in the words of Gregory Garre, arguing the case for Florida. Georgia disputes the notion that its water use is the direct cause of the bay's problems and touts metro Atlanta's progress on water conservation.
Georgia, Florida and Alabama have been jockeying over water rights for decades. In 2011, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tipped the legal playing field in Georgia's favor by ruling metro Atlanta could tap Lake Lanier for drinking water. Florida sued to the Supreme Court in 2013 in the hopes of turning things around.
Georgia’s long-shot legal maneuver Tuesday asserted that Lancaster, assigned by the Supreme Court to handle the case, should throw out Florida’s suit because the federal government should be a party to the case. Florida and the federal government disagreed.
Lancaster said he would rule on Georgia’s motion soon.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Garre said it would be unprecedented for Lancaster to toss out such a case on the basis that the government should be a party when the government also does not believe it should be a party.
But leaving the feds out of the case narrows what Florida can get from the Supreme Court.
Florida wants a simple cap on what Georgia can consume. Craig Primis, representing Georgia, pointed out Tuesday that one possible option for the court would be to order the Army Corps of Engineers to allow more water to flow out of its reservoirs into Florida at key times. But without the federal government as a party to the case, the court cannot mandate the corps to do anything.
That appeared to be fine by Florida. If Georgia consumes the water, it won’t be available for the corps to release to Florida, Garre said, so there’s no need for federal involvement.
He said Florida would call a series of expert witnesses at trial to prove its case, but that day is a long way off. Depositions for the experts are not due to be completed until April 1.
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