Water-sharing talks between Fla., Ga. and Ala. break down.(The Orlando Sentinel)

Byline: Bob Mahlburg

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ Negotiations to settle a dispute between Florida, Georgia and Alabama over valuable water supplies have collapsed, sending state officials back to federal courts in what's expected to be a long, costly legal battle.

Florida officials said Monday that they gave up on talks just before a midnight Sunday deadline because the other states would not agree to let enough water flow downstream to the environmentally sensitive Apalachicola Bay. That would put at risk one of the country's last pristine estuaries for marine life and a fishing industry that produces 13 percent of all oysters consumed in this country, they said.

"In the end, the differences were irreconcilable," Florida Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs said. "It was unacceptable for Florida to receive only minimal flows, plus whatever water the upstate states couldn't use and store."

Going back to court, including filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, is the only way to protect "one of the nation's most pristine, most productive estuaries," Struhs said.

The debate involves sharing water for fishing, industry, the environment and recreation across the Southeast's largest river system _ the Chattahoochee-Flint-Apalachicola river basin. The system starts in north Georgia, cuts through Atlanta and skims along the Alabama-Georgia border into Florida before spilling across sensitive oyster beds into Apalachicola Bay.

After more than a decade of disputes and on-and-off talks, the three states had agreed in July on a tentative, 40-year deal aimed at providing each state enough water to serve the Southeast's fast-growing population.