The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday indicated it will hear oral arguments in the long-running water battle between Florida and Georgia but did not specify when. The court issued an order that said the dispute is “set for oral argument in due course.”
The case involves divvying up water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, which stretches from northern Georgia to Apalachicola Bay in Franklin County. Florida contends that Georgia uses too much water from the system, in part damaging a critical Apalachicola Bay oyster fishery.
Florida is seeking an order that could lead to more water flowing south, but Georgia disputes that its water use has caused damage in Florida. A special master appointed by the Supreme Court sided with Georgia in December, but justices will have final say.
Florida filed the lawsuit in 2013, though the two states have fought for decades about water in the river system.
