Resource Wars.
February 8th, 2008
If you live in Georgia, or the Southeast in general, you know about the drought that has been affecting the region for the past year and a half (really longer, but it’s been serious during this time period). There have been a number of lawsuits (and prayers) related to the issue, but no resolution has been reached yet between the states (or between man and God, it would seem). Basically, the Chattahoochee River runs through northern Georgia, into a lake (Lake Lanier, roughly 50 miles north of Atlanta) that supplies the sprawling area with water. Well, the river then continues through the metro area, then south into Alabama, then to Florida, and finally empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The states along the way lay claim to their section of the river, so the entire southeast is jockeying for an extremely hard-to-acquire water supply.
Lately, there has been a new development. Georgia is trying to lay claim to a part of the Tennessee River, north of the state. The basic idea is that Georgia alleges that back in the 1800s, surveyors mis-reported the state line, and actually have a claim to a very small southern portion of the river that snakes into the Peach State. From The Tennessean:
This isn’t the first time lawmakers tried to reopen the argument. The resolution traces attempts to resolve the dispute as far back as 1887, when North Carolina — another border state involved in the dispute — authorized its governor to appoint commissioners and a surveyor to meet with neighboring delegations over the boundary.
More recently, Georgia legislators urged the governor in 1971 to launch joint surveys with North Carolina and Tennessee, but the border fight was never settled.
Georgia has eyed the Tennessee River for generations, but its interest has grown with the recent drought. Some influential politicians here have suggested using old-fashioned horse trading to work out a deal.
Of course, if Georgia were able to lay claim to part of the river, they could then tap into the huge river’s water supply and help get some relief to Atlanta citizens. I doubt we’ll see any sort of resolution on this any time soon, but to me it is a glimpse into the future. One day, probably not too far away from now — people, states, cities & nations are going to be increasingly belligerent towards one another in an effort to secure the remaining resources (water, oil, coal, etc) in a region. This is the start of these types of conflicts. This time, at least, it’s between neighboring states.
Edit: Because Wonkette is funnier than I am, read their take on the Georgia-Tennessee water issue.
Edit 2: Map of the area in question: 
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February 22nd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I just read about this recently. It’s definitely a better idea than praying for rain, but wouldn’t it just be easier to negotiate with Tennessee for shared irrigation rights to the river without changing the border? I mean, you’d want to do it smarter than they did with the Colorado river, but it seems to me like it could work.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 am
Most people feel that Atlanta’s growth is irresponsible and that setting up a sharing plan will give the city’s region a disproportionate stake in the southeast’s water supply. While I agree with that assessment, I’m not sure withholding water is any more responsible.
All of the states down here are suing one another over rights to the rivers flowing through the region, alleging each is taking more than their fair share of the water. It’s like the hatfields and mccoys, but with lawyers and water supplies.