The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear a second round of oral arguments this term in the long-running case over water use from the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint river system

 The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear a second round of oral arguments this term in the long-running case over water use from the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint river system, but they haven't said exactly when.

The justices already heard oral arguments in this case once, in 2018.

On Monday the court issued a short order saying “The Exceptions to the Second Report of the Special Master are set for oral argument in due course.”

For nearly 30 years Florida has argued that Georgia is taking too much water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, hurting oysters and other species in the Apalachicola River and Bay.

Florida has argued that Georgia’s water consumption has brought historically-low water flows into the Apalachicola Bay and has caused the local oyster industry to collapse because of higher salinity, increased disease and predator intrusion.

Until recently, Apalachicola Bay accounted for approximately 10 percent of the nation’s Eastern oyster supply. 

The oyster industry in Apalachicola collapsed in 2012 leading to a Commercial Fisheries Disaster Declaration from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2013. 

Last December, Special Master Paul Kelly Jr. ruled that Florida failed to prove the issue was Georgia's fault and said the evidence has shown that Georgia’s water use is reasonable.

Kelly is the second special master to rule in Georgia’s favor. 

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