Ga. Official: Why Wait For Feds To OK Water Study? TALLAHASSEE, FL (APR - Alabama Public Radio ) - Georgia's top environmental official believes the three states battling over water shouldn't wait for Congress to approve an independent study of the issue. Instead, they should pay for it themselves.

Florida Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez and Rep. Allen Boyd want the National Academy of Sciences to study the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch lauded the idea Thursday but said Georgia, Florida and Alabama should commission the study themselves and split the cost instead of waiting to see if Congress will approve it.

Officials believe an independent study of the waterways could help resolve the three-decade dispute over how to share the water.

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