Florida and Georgia have been in a fight over water for decades, eventually taking it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now the states may finally begin talks to settle the dispute.

Earlier this month, Florida Gov. Rick Scott took Gov. Nathan Deal up on his offer to come talk water in Tallahassee. One signal that they may be getting serious: Last week, the states told the Supreme Court they want to keep those negotiations private.

“I’m sure part of it is public relations and procedural, but I do think there could be some substantive measures taken here,” said Ryan Rowberry, a professor at Georgia State University College of Law, who also worked on this water wars case back when it was in a lower court.

It would make sense for the two states to try to work out a political solution, instead of going through what could be a very long and expensive legal battle, Rowberry said.

“In past cases of water sharing agreements, it’s taken years,” he said. “And then nobody’s happy at the end of it. So it’s a lot of time and money, and probably not a very good resolution for anybody.”

The states have tried the political solution before. This round of fights started after a compact between Florida, Georgia and Alabama broke down more than a decade ago.

Gil Rogers, an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said he doesn’t have much faith that just talking it out is going to work this time.

“We’ve seen this happen many times over the course of this conflict, and so far they have not really gone very far in these kinds of conversations,” said Rogers.

Just in case the governors’ get together doesn’t pan out, both states are still preparing for a long fight in the Supreme Court.