Florida v. Georgia

• Citation: 201 L.Ed.2d 871,138 S.Ct. 2502
• Decision Date: 27 June 2018
• Docket Number: No. 142, Orig.,142, Orig.
• Parties: State of FLORIDA, Plaintiff v. State of GEORGIA.
• Court: United States Supreme Court

138 S.Ct. 2502
201 L.Ed.2d 871

State of FLORIDA, Plaintiff
v.
State of GEORGIA.

No. 142, Orig.

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued Jan. 8, 2018.
Decided June 27, 2018.

Gregory G. Garre, for the Plaintiff.

Craig S. Primis, for the Defendant.

Edwin S. Kneedler for the United States as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, in support of overruling Florida's exception 2c.

Justice BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case concerns the proper apportionment of the water of an interstate river basin. Florida, a downstream State, brought this lawsuit against Georgia, an upstream State, claiming that Georgia has denied it an equitable share of the basin's waters. We found that the dispute lies within our original jurisdiction, and we appointed a Special Master to take evidence and make recommendations.

After lengthy evidentiary proceedings, the Special Master submitted a report in which he recommends that the Court deny Florida's request for relief on the ground that "Florida has not proven by clear and convincing evidence that its injury can be redressed by an order equitably apportioning the waters of the Basin." Report of Special Master 3. The case is before us on Florida's exceptions to the Special Master's Report.

In light of our examination of the Report and relevant portions of the record, we remand the case to the Master for further findings and such further proceedings as the Master believes helpful.

I

A

This original action arises out of a dispute over the division of water from an interstate river basin known as the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin. The Basin drains an area of more than 20,000 square miles across the southeastern United States. Three interstate rivers form the heart of the Basin and are central to this case. They are the Chattahoochee River, the Flint River, and the Apalachicola River. It is easiest to think of these three rivers as forming the capital letter "Y," with each branch starting at a different point in northeastern Georgia near Atlanta and the stem running through the Florida panhandle and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of Mexico. See Appendix, infra .

The Chattahoochee River is the western branch of this Y-shaped river system. It runs from the foothills of Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains, through most of Georgia, down to Lake Seminole, just north of Florida. The United States Army Corps of Engineers operates several dams and reservoirs along the Chattahoochee where it both stores water and controls the amount of water that flows downstream to Florida in accordance with the terms of its recently revised Master Water Control Manual (Master Manual). As we shall discuss in more detail, Part IV, infra, the Corps' operations are important to the resolution of this case.

The Flint River, the eastern branch of the "Y," runs from just south of Atlanta down to the same lake, namely, Lake Seminole. Unlike the Chattahoochee, there are no dams along the Flint River; it flows unimpeded through southern Georgia's

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farmland, where the greatest share of the Basin's water is consumed by agricultural irrigation.

After water from the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers mixes at Lake Seminole, the mixed water (now forming the stem of the Y) continues its southward journey. At the southern end of Lake Seminole, it flows through the Woodruff Dam—a dam also controlled by the Corps. The mixed waters then change their name. They are called the Apalachicola River, and under that name they flow 106 miles through the Florida Panhandle and finally empty into the Gulf of Mexico. There, the fresh water of the Apalachicola River mixes with the Gulf's saltwater, forming Apalachicola Bay, which the United Nations, the United States, and the State of Florida have all recognized as one of the Northern Hemisphere's most productive estuaries. In total, the Apalachicola River accounts for 35% of the fresh water that flows along Florida's western coast. See Joint Exh. 168, p. 39.

B

Florida and Georgia have long disputed the apportionment of the Basin's waters. Florida contends that Georgia is consuming more than its equitable share of Flint River water. It adds that, were Georgia to consume less water from the Flint River, more water would flow into Lake Seminole, pass through the Woodruff Dam and subsequently flow down the Apalachicola River (the Y's stem) and into Apalachicola Bay. The additional water that would result from a cap on Georgia's consumption would, Florida argues, help (among other things) to recover and maintain its oyster industry, which collapsed following a drought in 2012. Georgia believes that it should not have to cut back on its Flint River water consumption because, in its view, it consumes no more than its equitable share.

"This Court has recognized for more than a century its inherent authority, as part of the Constitution's grant of original jurisdiction, to equitably apportion interstate streams between States." Kansas v. Nebraska, 574 U.S. ––––, ––––, 135 S.Ct. 1042, 1052, 191 L.Ed.2d 1 (2015). But we have long noted our "preference" that States "settle their controversies by ‘mutual accommodation and agreement.’ " Arizona v. California, 373 U.S. 546, 564, 83 S.Ct. 1468, 10 L.Ed.2d 542 (1963) (quoting Colorado v. Kansas, 320 U.S. 383, 392, 64 S.Ct. 176, 88 L.Ed. 116 (1943) (Kansas II )); see also id ., at 392, 64 S.Ct. 176 ("[Interstate] controversies may appropriately be composed by negotiation and agreement, pursuant to the compact clause of the federal Constitution"); Kansas v. Nebraska, supra, at ––––, 135 S.Ct., at 1049–1050 (describing codification of Republican River Compact); Montana v. Wyoming, 563 U.S. 368, 372, 131 S.Ct. 1765, 179 L.Ed.2d 799 (2011) (interpreting Yellowstone River Compact); Kansas v. Colorado, 543 U.S. 86, 125 S.Ct. 526, 160 L.Ed.2d 418 (2004) (resolving dispute over Arkansas River Compact).

We recognize that Florida and Georgia (sometimes with the help of the Federal Government) have long tried to do so. But so far they have failed.

In 1992, for example, the States signed a memorandum of agreement in which they "committed to a process for cooperative management and development" of the three-river Basin and agreed to "participate fully as equal partners" in a "comprehensive, basin-wide study" of its waters. Joint Exh. 004, at 1. Five years later, the States signed—and Congress approved—a compact, the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin Compact, in which they agreed:

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"to develop an allocation formula for equitably apportioning the surface waters of the ACF Basin among the states while protecting the water quality, ecology and biodiversity of the ACF." 111 Stat. 2222–2223.

But five years of negotiations under the Compact proved fruitless, and in 2003, the Compact expired.

More than a decade later, in 2014, Congress again recognized the need for an equitable apportionment of Basin waters. See Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, Pub. L. 113–121, § 1051(a), 128 Stat. 1259. But once again, despite drought, expanding city populations, and a dramatic increase in acreage devoted to agricultural irrigation, no agreement has been reached. The "last effort to reach an amicable resolution of this complex equitable apportionment proceeding" in 2017 was "unsuccessful." Report 24. The States instead have come to this Court.

II

A

In 2013, Florida, the downstream State, sought to sue Georgia, the upstream State, asking us to exercise our "original and exclusive jurisdiction" and issue a decree equitably apportioning the waters of the Basin. 28 U.S.C. § 1251(a) ; see U.S. Const. Art. III, § 2; see also this Court's Rule 17. In its complaint, Florida alleged that Georgia's consumption of Flint River water "reduce[s] the amount of water flowing to the Apalachicola River at all times," and noted that "the effects are especially apparent during the low flow summer and fall periods." Complaint 9, ¶ 21; see also id., at 17, ¶ 49 (complaining that the impact of Georgia's water consumption "is significant, particularly during dry periods"). In addition, Florida alleged that "[a]s Georgia's upstream storage and consumption grows over time, low flow events will become more frequent and increase in severity, diminishing the likelihood that key species will survive and precluding any chance of recovery over the long term."Id., at 20, ¶ 59. To remedy these harms, Florida seeks a cap on Georgia's consumption of water from the Flint River. Id., at 21.

Georgia filed a brief in opposition, arguing that Florida failed to allege an injury sufficient to warrant this Court's exercise of original jurisdiction. See State of Georgia's Opposition to Florida's Motion for Leave to File a Complaint 31 ("Florida has not pleaded facts plausibly suggesting that it will be able to establish clear and convincing evidence that it suffers substantial injury as a result of Georgia's consumption of water"). At our request, the United States filed a brief in which it told us that "Florida has pleaded an interstate water dispute of sufficient importance to warrant this Court's exercise of its original jurisdiction, and no other judicial forum is suitable for resolving the overall controversy." Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 12 (Sept. 18, 2014)....