"The U.S. Supreme Court won’t force Georgia to curb its water usage, a defeat for downstream Florida in the two states’ long legal war over limited resources.

The justices issued their opinion Thursday, rejecting Florida’s plea for an order that would ensure more freshwater flows to the state’s wild oyster population along the Gulf Coast. Florida has hit repeated walls in its legal effort to protect the industry and the area’s broader ecosystem. Justice Amy Coney Barrett authored the opinion for the unanimous court.

The dispute centers on the Apalachicola-Chattahochee-Flint River basin, which straddles the southern states. Florida says Georgia farmers use too much from the shared resource, leaving insufficient freshwater for oysters in Apalachicola Bay. Georgia says Florida’s own management decisions are to blame for the industry’s recent collapse.

Florida failed to demonstrate that it was facing a serious injury from Georgia’s water use and that the benefits of an apportionment order from the court would outweigh any harm, the court said in Thursday’s opinion."

Ellen M. Gilmer and Jennifer Kay report for Bloomberg Environment April 1, 2021. [2]