From The News Service of Florida:
When a U.S. Senate committee comes to Franklin County next week, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam hopes federal lawmakers leave with a better understanding of the plight of people living along Apalachicola Bay.
“Anytime you have a Senate field hearing, it raises awareness among the committee staff and it spreads that awareness to senators who are not from Florida,” Putnam said Tuesday.
“We want to expand that level of awareness to other senators, particularly those who are on key committees who can help us get the resources necessary to rehabilitate that bay.”
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a field hearing on the impact of reduced water flows on Apalachicola Bay at 11 a.m. Aug. 13 at the Franklin County Courthouse. Florida, Georgia and Alabama have been in a long-running fight about water in the tri-state area. Florida officials have blamed drought conditions and a lack of freshwater flowing down the river for problems that have devastated the region’s oyster and fishing-related industries.
“It’s so disappointing that the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers hasn’t solved the problem, it’s been devastating to the oyster industry, we’ve put a lot of effort into that area of the state,” Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday. “We need more water flowing through there.”
In May, the Senate voted 83-14 to pass the 2013 Water Resources Development Act, but only after deleting a provision backed by Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that would have required Georgia to use less water from federal reservoirs for metro Atlanta’s drinking-water supply and release more to the other two states.