TALLAHASSEE --- After years of legal battling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected a lawsuit in which Florida argued Georgia has used too much water in a river system shared by the states.
The 12-page ruling dismissed the lawsuit that Florida filed in 2013 after the oyster fishery collapsed in Franklin County鈥檚 Apalachicola Bay. Florida contended that Georgia drew too much water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, which starts in northern Georgia and ends in Apalachicola Bay, and that more water should be directed to Florida.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in that Florida did not prove Georgia鈥檚 water use had caused damage in the bay and the Apalachicola River. The ruling upheld a recommendation from a special master, who was appointed by the Supreme Court and sided with Georgia in a December 2019 recommendation.
鈥淥f course, the precise causes of the bay鈥檚 oyster collapse remain a subject of ongoing scientific debate,鈥� Barrett wrote. 鈥淎s judges, we lack the expertise to settle that debate and do not purport to do so here. Our more limited task is to evaluate the parties鈥� arguments in light of the record evidence and Florida鈥檚 heavy burden of proof. And on this record, we agree with the special master that Florida has failed to carry its burden.鈥�
Florida contended that Georgia farmers have used too much water to irrigate crops, causing downstream damage to the Apalachicola River and the bay. But Georgia argued, in part, that the oyster industry sustained damage because of overharvesting after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster sent oil spreading through the Gulf of Mexico.
The Supreme Court ruling pointed to overharvesting as a key factor undercutting Florida鈥檚 arguments.
鈥淔lorida鈥檚 own documents and witnesses reveal that Florida allowed unprecedented levels of oyster harvesting in the years before the collapse,鈥� Barrett wrote. 鈥淚n 2011 and 2012, oyster harvests from the bay were larger than in any other year on record. That was in part because Florida loosened various harvesting restrictions out of fear --- ultimately unrealized --- that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill would contaminate its oyster fisheries. A former Florida official, one of Florida鈥檚 lead witnesses, acknowledged that these management practices 鈥榖ent鈥� Florida鈥檚 fisheries 鈥樷�榰ntil (they) broke.鈥欌��
The ruling also pointed to a lack of 鈥渞eshelling鈥� oyster bars by Florida.
鈥淩eshelling is a century-old oyster management practice that involves replacing harvested oyster shells with clean shells, which can serve as habitat for young oysters,鈥� Barrett wrote. 鈥淵et in the years before the collapse, while Florida was harvesting oysters at a record pace, it was simultaneously reshelling its oyster bars at a historically low rate.鈥�
While Florida filed the lawsuit in 2013, battles about water in the river system date to the 1990s. Florida sought in the lawsuit what is known as an 鈥渆quitable apportionment鈥� of water, which could have led to new limits on water used by Georgia farmers.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in February, after Special Master Paul Kelly, a New Mexico-based appellate judge, issued his 81-page recommendation in 2019 that supported Georgia.
Kelly was appointed special master after a divided Supreme Court overturned a 2017 recommendation by another special master, Ralph Lancaster, who said Florida had not proven its case 鈥渂y clear and convincing evidence鈥� that imposing a cap on Georgia鈥檚 water use would benefit the Apalachicola River.
Writing for a 5-4 majority in 2018, Justice Stephen Breyer said Lancaster had 鈥渁pplied too strict a standard鈥� in rejecting Florida鈥檚 claim.
But Thursday鈥檚 ruling flatly rejected Florida鈥檚 arguments.
鈥淐onsidering the record as a whole, Florida has not shown that it is 鈥榟ighly probable鈥� that Georgia鈥檚 alleged overconsumption played more than a trivial role in the collapse of Florida鈥檚 oyster fisheries,鈥� Barrett wrote. 鈥淔lorida therefore has failed to carry its burden of proving causation by clear and convincing evidence.鈥�
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried issued a statement that said the ruling is "disappointing for the thousands of families whose livelihoods depend on the waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochie-Flint River Basin."
"The court may have disagreed, but the hard-working Floridians of our oyster fisheries know that water overconsumption by Georgia has contributed to a 98 percent decline in value of Florida's oyster catch," the statement said. "While we work to protect Florida鈥檚 waters, our Division of Aquaculture will continue working hard to support our oyster industry every way that we can.鈥�
Amid the court battle, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in December suspended wild oyster harvesting in the bay as part of a $20 million restoration effort.
