POINT CLEAR, Ala. - Promoters are looking to lure new business to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Water, which links the Tennessee River with the Gulf of Mexico through western Alabama.
A development conference is being held today at Point Clear on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, where supporters will discuss ways to increase usage of the 234-mile waterway.
Gov. Robert Bentley will speak along with economic forecasters, a climate scientist and others.
The Tenn-Tom begins at the Tennessee River near the Mississippi-Tennessee line and travels southward to the Tombigbee River near Demopolis.
More than two million tons of commerce already uses the waterway a year, and it's also popular with anglers and recreational boaters.
The conference is being staged by a four-state authority that promotes the waterway in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.