By Anne Spencer

Published: March 11, 2008

After a congressional hearing on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River System in Washington Tuesday, Florida Congressman Allen Boyd and members of the Apalachicola River Riparian County Stakeholders Coalition said they were somewhat encouraged about what is described as “the water wars” among Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

In a press conference after the hearing, Chad Taylor, the Jackson County representative on the Riparian Coalition, said he was grateful for the opportunity for Florida stakeholders to express their opinions in the decade-long battle over water rights.

Taylor said he was impressed with the knowledge on the part of many in the governments dealing with the problem, and he was looking forward to “a collaborative negotiated agreement between the three states” that would protect the “national treasure” of the Apalachicola River.

Tuesday’s congressional hearing raised the issue to some 70 members on the House subcommittee’s parent Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Taylor said this is good because the avenue to resolution is not just through the governors or courts.

Boyd said the hearing offered the chance for Florida to remind that “we’re in this game, too.” He said the states must resume talks because it’s too important to leave to the courts.

“We must continue to raise the profile on the issue” because the states are interdependent, Boyd said.

White House-brokered water negotiations broke down earlier this month – the latest of talks between the states that began in the early 1990s.

The current drought in the Southeast has moved the problem to crisis mode, yet still no progress has been made.

Without an agreement, the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies will use a water-sharing plan of their own, the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, announced early this month.

Having a directed solution would be unfortunate, but necessary since the states haven’t worked this out, Kempthorne said.

The war concerns not just the ACF, but the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river system, which run through Georgia into Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Georgia is fighting to hold back more water in federal reservoirs around Atlanta to serve that metro area’s growing population.

Florida and Alabama argue that Georgia hasn’t planned for growth adequately and the increased withdrawals that Georgia wants would damage environment downstream and dry up river flows that support smaller municipalities, power plants, commercial fisheries and industries like paper mills.

In the press conference, Kevin Begus, executive director of the Franklin County (Fla.) Oyster & Seafood Task Force, said the fight was much more people against people than mussels versus people, and while “the whole basin has to be part of the solution, Georgia has the most work to do.

Also attending the hearing were Franklin County Commissioner Joseph (Smokey) Parrish and Dave McLain, the senior policy director of the Apalachicola Riverkeepers.
McLain said the subject of the hearing was not just water management but the drought, and since droughts are natural, they must be included in plans.

He said Boyd was right in pointing out that Florida has long had water management plans, while Georgia is just now starting.
McLain said it appears that Georgia has had the advantage to date talking about an inadequate water supply for its residents, but after the hearing, “I think we’re closer to having a level playing field.”

Parrish was also questioned by subcommittee members during the hearing.
He said the Apalachicola Bay must be considered in water allocation because “the entire ecosystem” is already damaged from drought, and if the water flow continues to be reduced, the effects would be ‘irreversible.”

He said he was “not upbeat, but I’m encouraged. We’re starting to get our message out.”
A revision of the Corps’ 50-year-old water management plan is a must, and its first step should be an Environmental Impact Statement, Parrish said.

Boyd said he knew all the governors to be fine men and that the talks among them must continue.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)