The trial seeking to come to a resolution between Georgia and Florida over water usage came to an end last week, with the special master imploring both sides to reach a settlement before he gives his recommendation in January.
“Please settle this blasted thing,” said Lancaster, the Portland, Maine judge appointed special master for the case by the U.S. Supreme Court, “I can guarantee you that at least one of you is going to be unhappy with my recommendation — and perhaps both of you.”
The month-long trial featured dozens of witnesses and exhibits as Florida argued that Georgia’s usage of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers was damaging both the environment and the oyster farming industry in Apalachicola Bay. The Peach State, conversely, contended that it uses an appropriate and necessary amount of water and that placing restrictions on Atlanta’s usage would be far more damaging to a far larger number of people than are effected in Florida.
Once Lancaster announces his recommendation each side will have an opportunity to weigh in before the U.S. Supreme Court gives the ultimate ruling. It is expected that they will follow their special master’s decision.
This week at the Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators event in Athens Georgia Governor Nathan Deal sounded confident in talking about the case, saying, “We feel that we have a very strong case and our attorneys have presented everything that we could say to counteract the arguments and the attacks that Florida’s legal team is making. Hopefully the special master will give due attention to that, and I expect that he will.”
