By Alabama Public Radio
Birmingham, AL – U-S District Court Judge Karon Bowdre is giving Alabama, Georgia and Florida more time to settle their dispute about sharing water from the Chattahoochee River. The judge issued an order Tuesday giving the states until December 20th to work out an agreement to share the water. Her action freezes litigation in the case. The original deadline was set to expire tomorrow (Thursday 8/31). Last week, the states asked for additional time because of the progress being made in the matter. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue will meet with the Governor Bob Riley and Florida Governor Jeb Bush on or before November 30th to negotiate the agreement. The last time all three governors met to discuss ways to share the Chattahoochee River was in 2003 before federally mandated negotiations broke down.