To Court Without the Corps? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Florida v. Georgia

Abstract

highlights:

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has altered the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system.

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Past and current Army Corps projects in the ACF contour legal conflicts between states.

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Florida v. Georgia invites future geographic engagement with the history and practices of engineers in the ACF.

This paper examines the role of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) in a recent Supreme Court case, Florida v. Georgia, concerning water allocation in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river basin. Although several non-federal, run-of-the-river hydropower dams exist on the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, the system of five federal dams operated by the Corps most profoundly impacts the flow regime of the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers. While the Corps was not a party in Florida v. Georgia, findings throughout the legal proceedings demonstrated the centrality of the Corps to contemporary politics and conflicts in the ACF. We propose the results of Florida v. Georgia can serve as inspiration for geographers studying the ACF river basin and other transboundary rivers to analytically and politically engage with experts and technical knowledge in new ways.