Well I have now seen everything. The State of Georgia announced recently that they were forming a committee to review the possibility of moving the Tennessee and Georgia State line approximately one mile. While this may not seem like a big deal, the reason for this is so they can lay claim to the Tennessee River so they can pull millions of gallons of water out of the Tennessee River because they are running out.

The “error” in the state line occurred in approximately 1818. The state line was established and Georgia sent out a survey crew to mark the line. They missed the mark by about nine miles mainly due to very faulty equipment. They had faulty equipment because the State of Georgia would not buy the needed equipment for the survey crew. The crew was working with out-dated equipment and was using a process that was developed for use by sailors on the open sea; not the hills of NW Georgia and SE Tennessee.

So why do I care (or you for that matter)? If any state can just move their long established state line, what will stop other states in the future? What if Kansas decided they wanted the Missouri side of Kansas City (that is where the baseball team is)? What if Nevada wanted the California side of Lake Tahoe? Where would the madness stop? It would not and before we knew it, every state would have legal battles going on that would clog up the court system worse than they are now.

What am I talking about? Filing a law suit against McDonald’s because the coffee was hot and I burned myself while driving to work. What about suing Burger King because I am fat and too lazy to get off the couch? Maybe I can sue Toshiba for the carpal tunnel I develop writing blogs on the internet. What does this have to do with Georgia and my Tennessee water? Just like the rest of us that want to blame someone else instead of taking responsibility for our own ignorance, Georgia wants to blame a long dead survey crew for missing the mark when that is not the issue.

The problem is not necessarily Georgia, but Atlanta. Atlanta has grown unchecked for many years. Did they think there was an unlimited resource of water? Have they built any reservoirs to help with the water needs? No, they have issued building permits with reckless abandon and now the main water source is eighteen feet below normal.

So, they want one mile of their nine miles of missing state. They do not want the other eight miles because they only need to get a pipe to the Tennessee River. Think what this will do to the environment of the hundreds of miles of Tennessee River shoreline. Think of all the business and homes that will be devastated by the loss of millions of gallons of water from the river. Think of the impact on fish and fishing, ducks and hunting, crops and the farmers.

We live in a delicate balance with the environment. I am not an environmentalist whack-o; however to think we can consume our resources with reckless abandon without consequences is naïve. We have to take responsibility for the area we live. Georgia has to take responsibility for their water needs and control their growth. Can they have some of the Tennessee River water? Sure, they can, but at what cost to the residents of the state.

I am not sure what will happen, but the battle lines are about to be drawn one mile from Nick-a-jack Lake. There have been major battles over water rights; I imagine this one will be just as intense.

Bookmark: