Bill would open door to taking water from Tennessee River basin
Senators introduced two bills Wednesday regulating interbasin transfers from rivers.
Senate Bill 128 proposes new requirements before taking water from one Georgia river basin and discharging the used water into another river basin. Senate Bill 132 would exempt water taken from the Tennessee River basin in the Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain area from transfer regulations.
The Tennessee River runs just north of the Georgia state line. Though Georgia cannot draw water from it, some of it's northernmost creeks drain into the Tennessee.
There was talk during the 2010 Georgia governor's race about whether to try moving the Georgia-Tennessee boundary north. The state line was placed too far south because of miscalculations. Had it been placed properly, Georgia, now starved for water, would have access to the Tennessee River. Nothing came of the talk.
About the Author
Christopher Quinn is a writer and editor who has worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1999. He writes stories on Veterans Affairs, business including high-tech growth in metro Atlanta, Georgia's $72 billion farm economy, and he oversees assigning and editing news obituaries.
