U.S. Senate and House of Representatives conferees have started work on the final version of a water authorization bill that states governors, not Congress, should negotiate interstate water disputes. That’s especially key in the longstanding battle over Lake Lanier water between Georgia, Alabama and Florida, a dispute that’s flared up again recently with a lawsuit filed by Florida against Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court. “Congress has consistently said that the states should settle the dispute,” said Joanna Cloud, executive director of the Gainesville-based Lake Lanier Association.