Florida Opposes Water Truce

By Ben Evans

WASHINGTON – The state of Florida on Friday backed away from a temporary truce brokered by the Bush administration to help settle a long-standing water war – now heightened by an ongoing drought – involving Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

In a letter to federal officials, Florida’s environmental protection chief said the state opposes an arrangement announced in Washington last week under which the Army Corps of Engineers would cut river flows into Florida and Alabama in order to capture more water for Georgia.

The river reductions would cause a “catastrophic collapse of the oyster industry in Apalachicola Bay” and “displace the entire economy of the Bay region,” wrote Michael Sole, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist raised no such objections at a news conference in Washington last week, where Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne hailed the governors for coming together as good neighbors.

Mr. Kempthorne said the temporary changes in river operations would come as the states worked toward completing a longer-term pact by Feb. 15.

“I think that what we had today was a great discussion, a great understanding,” Mr. Crist said at the news conference.

But he has since come under heavy criticism from the fishing industry, local leaders and environmentalists.

“I think what Crist is starting to hear is that in the past the environmentalists were taking the lead on this, but now you have a really broad coalition – the chamber of commerce is speaking out, and Realtors, recreational fishermen, people in the restaurant industry,” said Kevin Begos, executive director of a Franklin County, Fla., task force that represents oyster and seafood interests.

Eric Eikenberg, Mr. Crist’s deputy chief of staff, said Mr. Crist never committed to supporting the proposal and that the state reached its decision after taking a closer look at it.

He said he did not think Florida’s opposition would undercut negotiations among the states.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue called the announcement “unfortunate” but said he hoped the “spirit” of the negotiations could win support from all three states.

Originally published by Ben Evans Associated Press.

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