Tennesseans should be mightily upset that Gov. Bill Haslam has expressed willingness to discuss the possibility of allowing the transfer of some water from the Tennessee River into Georgia. There is nothing to be gained by such a discussion with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, and much to be lost. Any additional transfer of water out of the Tennessee River Basin would be detrimental to the health of the river – as well as a disservice to the people and businesses in the basin. It would set a bad legal precedent.
Whether the transfer of water would be good for the river and for those served by it doesn’t seem to concern Georgia’s political leaders. They are greedy and driven by self-interest in the matter.
They’ll do almost anything – except, apparently, to implement useful growth controls or establish tough conservation rules – to obtain the water the state needs to sustain growth in metropolitan Atlanta and elsewhere.
History proves such expedience is nothing new. Science explains why any attempt by Georgia to gain access to the Tennessee River should be rebuffed.
Talk, but no action
For decades, Atlanta used Lake Lanier as a mostly private reservoir. Never mind that doing so effectively reduced the volume of flow of the Chattahoochee River water available downstream to both Florida and Alabama. Georgia talked about equity on the issue for years, but never took action to provide it.