The Apalachicola River is a life line for thousands of people who live and work along its shores.

But recently its pulse has been slowed due to the water wars between Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Now, the lack of water could mean the extinction of the way of life for many who live along the rivers edge.

Lynn Martina, says owner of Lynn's Quality Oysters says, "the Apalachicola river is our only source and we have to have it and we need our share"

Getting their share of this precious resource is the main concern for thousands of Florida residents who count on the river.

"Our oysters are slowly dying due to the lack of fresh water the river affects our bay we have to have so much fresh water for them to grow and for them to survive" Survival that depends on fresh water flowing from three tributary rivers.

The Chattahoochee River, which starts in the foothills of the Georgia Mountains… The Flint River, which begins just south of Atlanta and the Chipola River that joins the Apalachicola river just East of Wewahitchka Florida.

In January a law suit was filed on behalf of the City of Apalachicola against the Army Corps of Engineers saying the Corps has exceeded the authority granted to them when it comes to regulating the flow of water down the Chatahootchee to the Apalachicola.

A Federal Appeals Court agrees, early this month the court found in favor of the State of Florida in a separate law suit filed in 2003. The Court ruled against the Corps and the State of Georgia who had agreed to control the flow for municipal and industrial purposes in and around Atlanta.

For one long time resident and business in Wewahitchka, their lively hood comes in the form of Tupelo Honey. Pure Tupelo Honey is produced from the White Ogeechee Tupelo. That specific type of Tupelo tree only grows throughout the Apalachicola River basin and the Chattahoochee river basin here in Northwest Florida.

Ben Lanier, Owner of Tupelo Honey said "we've been doing it since 1898... “My grandfather took them put them on a steam boat and took them to Bainbridge that's how long we've been doing it."

Now hurt not only by the lowering water line, but also dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers in previous years.

"They've already filled up thousands of acres of the wetland were the Tupelo grows with sand and once they fill in the wetlands the Tupelo tree won't come back the Tupelo won't grow where there is sand."

Whether its oysters in the Apalachicola Bay or Tupelo trees along the river bank, Lynn Martina and Ben Lanier are like thousands of others, watching their lives dictated by the ebb and flow of an uncertain waterway.

"They only bloom two weeks a year and that's it… and if you don't make it in those two weeks you don't get another chance for another 365 days… so it's a gamble, a big gamble"

Twenty years ago there were roughly 15 oyster processing plants along the bay in Apalachicola. Now there are three.

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about how the lack of water in Georgia is affecting the ecosystem and way of life in the Apalachicola river basin.

"It's healing it self ", that's what Marilyn Blackwell says about the Apalachicola river. She's a local activist who has lived on the Apalachicola River for most of her life.

"It's going to take a long time, because the corp has been messing with it for over 100 years. It's going to take a long time if it heals itself, it can maintain itself."

And like many others, Marilyn needs what the river produces.

Lynn Martina Owner of Lynn's Quality Oysters in Apalachicola says, "The shrimp industry has all but disappeared in Apalachicola and various salt water species like Red Snapper are being caught five miles up the Apalachicola River."

"The crabs are up on the river there's more crabbing in the river than in the bay right now because the salt water is up the river"

Many who depend on the river say if something isn't done soon oystering and other industries will be things of the past.

Ben Lanier, Owner of Tupelo Honey in Wewahitchka, FL, shares the same concerns. "Almost all of the slews are damaged severely. I mean from as far as I know from Blountstown to Apalachicola they pumped sand, they filled up all the slews I grew up fishing in. They filled up with sand and so there is no place for the fish to have an estuary or the crawdads. They keep talking about the crawdads. They need to dig the slews back out as far as I’m concerned because they're full of sand. Years past the slews never went dry. I mean all year long that hole was 20 feet deep it might get down, but there would still be 4 feet of water there for the Crawfish the Brim and the baby Bass and everything. But now, it's all gone. It's just all sand"

Clearing out the sand will only fix a portion of the problems plaguing the river. The lack of fresh water is another.

Local activists recently met with Florida Governor Charlie Crist and emphasized the need to keep fresh water flowing from the Chattahoochee and the Flint rivers.

Officials from Georgia, Alabama and Florida are hoping they'll meet a deadline this month to settle an 18-year battle over sharing water.

Officials from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection say they hope to have a plan in place by mid February.