Southeast United States Water Woes Continue

Friday, November 9th 2007, 12:13 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) - The state of Florida on Friday backed away from a temporary truce brokered by the Bush administration to settle a long-standing water war, heightened by drought, between Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

In a letter to federal officials, Florida's environmental protection chief said the state opposes an arrangement announced last week under which the Army Corps of Engineers would cut river flows into Florida and Alabama in order to capture more water for Georgia. The letter says the plan would irreversibly damage Florida's environment and its fisheries.

The plan would ``starve the Apalachicola River and Bay of freshwater flows needed to keep the ecosystems, species and economy alive,'' wrote Michael Sole, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist raised no such objections at a press conference in Washington last week, where Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that the cuts would be implemented as the governors worked toward a longer-term deal.

``I think that what we had today was a great discussion, a great understanding,'' Florida Governor Charlie Crist said at the press conference.

But the Florida governor has since come under heavy criticism from the fishing industry, local leaders and environmentalists.