Saturday, November 10, 2007

Florida Pulls Out Of Deal

Florida officials Friday backed away from a temporary truce hammered out by the Bush administration to end a three-state water war, fearing the deal would kill Apalachicola Bay's oyster industry.........here
"Hopefully the people of Florida will recognize, [with] the lower flows that will result, that those little mussels could just ease a little further down to the water."......Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue

1 comment:

Mariella said...

From “The Florida Downstream Blues”
By Joe Murphy

“Neither Florida nor Alabama can truthfully claim much moral high ground when it comes to issues of water conservation and growth management, but nor should we see degraded natural resources, risks to public health, potential energy supply disruptions, or economic harm because Georgia decided the best way to handle a water and growth crisis was to hope that it rained.

“... we all essentially live downstream. In this case we literally live downstream from Georgia and the future and survival of the Apalachicola River depends on our neighbors to the north having the grace and wisdom to live within their means. 

“While there is indeed a severe and prolonged natural or hydrological drought in the Southeastern U.S., there has been a much longer and more pronounced drought in political courage and leadership in Georgia (and Alabama and Florida for that matter) to limit growth and enact meaningful water conservation. ... This drought has been coming on for a long time, and Georgia has been closing their eyes, saying yes to any and all growth, and hoping for rain for far too long.”