Perseverance is an admirable trait. Not knowing when to “stop beating a dead horse” is not an admirable trait.
Florida, depending on your perspective and loyalties, has one or the other of these traits in their continued attacks in the regional Water Wars that have raged for decades.
Florida has, once again, approached the U.S. Supreme Court to seek what they believe is an equitable portion of waters from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, in spite of recent, clear and lawful rulings by the Supreme Court.
Our friends at the Lake Lanier Association (LLA) — a non-profit group whose goals are to keep Lake Lanier clean, safe and full — are respected authorities on these matters.
In an e-mail sent to LLA members on February 3, 2014, Joanna Cloud wrote: “LLA members may recall that Florida asked the Supreme Court to perform ‘equitable apportionment’ of the ACF waters, giving more to Florida than it has gotten in the past. The Supreme Court must consent to the filing of a complaint, and Georgia filed its response in an attempt to persuade the Court not to give its consent.”
If I understand correctly, Florida asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its arguments requesting more water from Lake Lanier, among other sources. Georgia is asking the Supreme Court not to judge this case, as they have already.
Georgia’s request to deny Florida’s petition is based on a number of reasons. According to LLA, they include:
- the Corps must have time to complete its ACF Manual re-write
- the relief requested is not possible without joining the Corps as a party and the U.S. has not waived sovereign immunity to allow that and
- FL has failed to prove that GA is taking more than its fair share of the water.
We are thankful for the advocacy of the Lake Lanier Association and its faithful members.
Click Here for LLA’s Response to the Latest Water War Skirmish
