Updated: After joining Rubio and Nelson Tuesday in Apalachicola, Gov. Rick Scott announced the state would sue Georgia over the water usage.
“This lawsuit will be targeted toward one thing – fighting for the future of Apalachicola. This is a bold, historic legal action for our state. But this is our only way forward after 20 years of failed negotiations with Georgia. We must fight for the people of this region. The economic future of Apalachicola Bay and Northwest Florida is at stake,” he said in a statement.
The suit will be filed in the U.S. Supreme Court and will seek to limit the amount of Apalachicola headwaters Georgia can use.
A five-minute audio interview with State Sen. Bill Montford (D-District 6) can be heard below. He discusses his role in helping to convene the hearing, his hopes for the federal government to take a stronger interest, and the steps for the region's oyster industry moving forward.
Here is a 35-minute video montage of the events inside and outside the hearing.
Original story: There was much emotion Tuesday at the congressional field hearing scheduled to examine the lack of water flow into the Apalachicola Bay.
Due to decreasing levels of water flow into the bay from the Apalachicola watershed, the town's once-thriving oyster industry has collapsed. The town of Apalachicola, known for its oysters, has reported that this season has found an insignificant amount of the mussels to be harvested from the bay.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection calls the Apalachicola one of the most productive bays in the nation, providing approximately 90 percent of the oysters consumed in Florida. In addition to oysters, the bay supports extensive shrimping, crabbing and commercial fishing. Only 20 percent of the river lies in Florida, according to FDEP. The Apalachicola River headwaters, which actually begin in Georgia's Chattahoochee River, becomes the Apalachicola where it crosses the Florida-Georgia line.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio scheduled the field hearing at the Franklin County Courthouse in Apalachicola to hear evidence concerning the oyster collapse. Speakers blamed the collapse on last year's drought and poor water conservation practices in Georgia along the Chattahoochee river.
Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio headed the field hearing because Congress has the authority to direct the US Corps of Engineers to provide the freshwater flows necessary to save the Appalacicola Bay.
<i>Senators Bill Nelson (left) and Marco Rubio lead the field hearing in Apalachicola over a tri-state water war issue and oyster collapse blamed on the 2012 drought and Georgia's lack of conservation. </i>
<i>Large crowd gathers for US Senate field hearing in Apalachicola on what Congress should do about the oyster collapse in Apalachicola and how Georgia needs to negotiate the water flow better to keep Apalachicola Bay healthier. </i>
<i>Florida State Sen. Bill Montford 3rd District listens at the senate field hearing in Apalachicola Tuesday. </i>
<i>Emily Menashes, acting director of NOAA's Office of Sustainable Fisheries, speaks Tuesday at the senate field hearing. Col. Jon Chytka, commander of the Mobile District for the US Army Corp of Engineers, listens on her right. (Donna Green-Townsend/WUFT News)</i>