In a 5-4 split, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday sent back to a special master the long-running interstate legal battle over Florida’s claims that Georgia overuses water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.

The majority, in an opinion penned by Justice Stephen Breyer, determined the special master was too strict in requiring Florida to present “clear and convincing” evidence of the workability of any future decree that would govern water use by Georgia and Florida. In doing so, the high court ensured the decadeslong battle remains far from over.