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WATER POLITICS

As reported in a number of publications, including The New York Times, the water “war” between Tennessee and Georgia has been brought closer to a boiling point by Georgia’s recent legislative attempt to move the border north so the drought-plagued state can tap into the Tennessee River.  According to some legislators, Georgia – under this new border arrangement – could send billions of gallons of water to parched Atlanta without Tennessee’s permission.

While the legislation revolves around what some say was an “erroneous” survey completed in 1818 which placed the border 1.1 miles below what Congress had earlier established as the boundary, the real issue is access to water in the drought-plagued Southeastern U.S.  As the article notes:

“…The latest effort to redraw — er, correct — the boundary line comes as Georgia fights over water rights with its neighbors, who complain that the state has done little to encourage conservation or to rein in growth. Atlanta depends almost solely on Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River for its water, while the much larger Tennessee River flows just out of reach on the other side of the state line….”