Floridians are largely unaware of a bubbling rivalry between Florida and Georgia away from the gridiron.
Late last year, Florida officials a lawsuit against the state of Georgia, continuing what has been dubbed a water war between Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The lawsuit seeks to limit the amount of water Georgia draws from the Chattahoochee River, which joins the Flint River before flowing into the Florida Panhandle’s Apalachicola Bay.
Georgia has become increasingly dependent on the Chattahoochee River, which provides water to the Atlanta metropolitan area. Increased water usage in Georgia decreased the river’s flow into Apalachicola, spurring a near-collapse of the area’s oyster population in 2012.
Before the collapse, Apalachicola Bay produced 90 percent of Florida’s oysters and 10 percent of the oysters consumed in the country. The federal government declared the bay a fisheries disaster area in 2012.
Despite the added tension between the states, results from the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education’s newest public opinion survey showed that 74 percent of Floridians were unaware of the lawsuit and 69 percent did not know about the declining oyster industry.
“The lawsuit really is one of the bigger things that our governor has done in terms of securing a future water supply for the state of Florida,” said Alexa Lamm, associate director of the PIE Center. “Even though it has been in the media, the public just doesn’t know about it.”
Lamm, also an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, designed the survey to gauge Floridians’ attitudes, behaviors and experiences with water conservation, quality and quantity. PIE Center researchers added questions about the water wars in the survey’s second year to measure residents’ awareness of current water issues.
The online survey is part of the PIE Center’s series of public opinion surveys. Other topics include immigration reform, endangered species and food production practices.
PIE Center researchers provided survey respondents with information regarding the lawsuit and asked if they believed filing the lawsuit was the right thing to do. Forty-five percent agreed, while 48 percent were unsure.
“It’s interesting that so few people were against the lawsuit, even though they were initially unaware of it,” Lamm said. “I think that demonstrates that, in general, people care about water and protecting it in the state of Florida.”
Floridians largely agreed the government should protect water and that government intervention is needed to restore Apalachicola Bay. Eighty-three percent indicated water is something the state government should protect and only 16 percent think oyster production in Apalachicola Bay will return to normal levels without government intervention.
“What we found is that Floridians think water is something the government should be spending their time on, ensuring that Florida has a future water supply while protecting our natural resources,” Lamm said.
