Florida says 'no' to water deal

The head of Florida's environmental protection division has written a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying it opposes a temporary truce brokered last week by the White House. The agreement reached by the three states is an attempt to settle a long-standing water war involving Florida, Georgia and Alabama. It calls for the Corps to cut river flows into Florida and Alabama in order to capture more water from Georgia. The letter of opposition says the plan would damage Florida's environment and fisheries industry. Florida's governor raised no objections to the plan during last week's meeting.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will continue until next Thursday, its twice daily releases of water from Lake Lanier. The water goes downstream to protect Florida's endangered mussels species. Next week, federal biologists are scheduled to report on whether the mussels can survive with less water. If biologists okay the plan, the Corps will reduce the amount of water released. Until then, the Corps is obligated to maintain a flow of at least 3.2 billion gallons of water every day into Florida.