Justices Give Florida Narrow Win in Water Fight With Georgia

The Supreme Court is giving Florida another chance to make its case that Georgia uses too much water and leaves too little for its southern neighbor.

The justices ruled 5-4 Wednesday in the long-running dispute between the two states. The fight is over Georgia's use of water from the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers that serve booming metro Atlanta and Georgia's powerful agricultural industry.

The court said that a special master appointed to hear the lawsuit should reconsider Florida's argument that limiting how much water Georgia uses would provide more for the Apalachicola river that flows into Apalachicola Bay and the nearby Gulf of Mexico.

The special master had recommended to the court that it side with Georgia and reject Florida's call for limiting water consumption from the Flint river.