A federal judge on Wednesday ruled against Florida’s use of the endangered species act in the ongoing battle over water use in the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint River System.
Florida has long argued that that the way the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages Lake Lanier in Georgia threatens a number of threatened and endangered species including the Gulf sturgeon, and three freshwater mussel species: the fat threeridge, the purple bankclimber and the Chipola slabshell.
Florida had argued that the Corps should allow more water to flow down the Chattahoochee River system to support the species.
A 2008 opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s reservoir operations would not jeopardize the survival of the various species, something Florida contested.
On Wednesday however, U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson sided with the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Wildlife Service said it was pleased with the ruling because the biological opinion was based on the best science available.
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue hailed the ruling by saying We always felt the use of the Endangered Species Act was just a ruse to try and wring more water out of Georgia adding that Judge Magnuson issued a common-sense ruling that allows the three states to continue meaningful talks.
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