Georgians want access to Tenn. water They want to redraw state boundary

By THEO EMERY • Staff Writer • February 8, 2008

In 1993, Joel J. Kyle and his wife, Juanita, moved just over the Georgia border to Tennessee — and Joel Kyle vowed never to cross it again.

Now, some Georgia lawmakers want the border to cross him, in a manner of speaking.


A resolution in Georgia's legislature proposes to move the Tennessee-Georgia boundary about a mile to the north of where it now lies, which could put Kyle right back into the state he left 15 years ago.

The proposal elicited instant ridicule from residents of the area on Thursday, as well as tongue-in-cheek saber rattling from Tennessee lawmakers.

One state senator offered to settle the issue with a football game. Another suggested floating an armada of University of Tennessee fans down the Tennessee River to defend the state's territory.

But behind the amusement is a serious issue that has bedeviled the Southeast: access to water. If the border is redrawn, the new state line would fall across Nickajack Reservoir. That would allow parched Georgians to tap into the waters of the dammed Tennessee River.
Issue draws criticism

Kyle, 69, said he has no desire to be annexed by Georgia, which he gladly departed because of its taxes, and hopes the idea is "just a pipe dream."

"If it ever came to that, I would probably move," he said. "I've got seven acres here, and we're set up pretty well, but I wouldn't ever want to be in the state of Georgia again, to be honest with you."

Georgia has been battling Florida and Alabama in federal court for about 18 years over water rights. Last summer, Lake Lanier, which supplies Atlanta's water, shriveled to historic lows.

The resolution, which has passed early hurdles but has not received final passage, claims that the boundary was erroneously surveyed in 1818 and that Georgia has never accepted it. The resolution calls for the creation of a "Georgia-Tennessee Boundary Line Commission" that would perform joint surveys and change the line to the "definite and true" boundary line: exactly following the 35th parallel.

"We're not talking about sucking it dry," said Rep. Harry Geisinger, a Republican who sponsored the resolution in the Georgia House. "We're talking about augmenting some water needs, and as you know, the Tennessee has got plenty of water in it."

Gil Rogers, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the proposal was the wrong approach to water woes. Lawmakers, he said, should concentrate on conservation and sustainable development.

"It's a matter of how we grow and planning ahead so we're not reduced to making these propositions about accessing rivers that are hundreds of miles away," he said.

State Sen. Andy Berke, a Chattanooga Democrat, took the Senate floor and jokingly proposed a winner-take-all wrestling match or football game.

Afterward, he was more circumspect, saying that there is a serious issue at hand about natural resources, planning and development, and calling the Georgia proposal an "irresponsible land-grab."

"I think it is more productive to be up front about the future of water use," he said, "rather than disguising the intentions with discussions of grabbing our state's land."

Contact Theo Emery at temery@tennessean.com or 726-4889.

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art ... /802080435

In your voice: Read reactions to this story

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triton257 wrote:
Howdy; I am a resident of the State of Texas, and can only imagine what would happen if Oklahoma or Louisiana decided to annex a piece of our Great State. You would have some dead non-Texans, I can assure you. I don't understand how people can't comprehend how individual states are soveriegn territory.
2/8/2008 7:14:42 PM
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jmb1976 wrote:
Just face it volunteers, the border is at 35 degrees north. You know it is. Tennessee has refused throughout history to resurvey the southern border. Tennessee will lose the court case. Get over it. The Tennessee River is all Georgia's now.
2/8/2008 7:08:10 PM
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jtcade wrote:
There is an additional aspect to this issue i.e. the Tenn. Valley Authority (TVA). TVA has a lot to say about water usage in the Tenn river basin. It is naive to think that just because Georgia might gain access to the river, it could divert water for its own benefit. Dozens of TVA power plants depend on its flow for cooling, millions of tons of barge cargo depend on the TVA for maintaining flow levels . The drought has effected the whole region. Barge loads had to be lessened in the river because of low flow levels this year. Georgia lawmakers are simply doing what politians do best; avoidance, finger pointing and attempting to appear as though they know what they are doing. To think that Georgians are stupid and gullible enough to accept this proposal as anything but a sham is an indication of the Georgia legislature's contempt for Georgia citizens. Is this why they were elected? loejtc
2/8/2008 6:55:24 PM
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dajedikidd wrote:
JSWIN - Your Calif-Nev example brings up a good point, that of intent and even senior rights or "who was there first". However, you logic is flawed. When Nevada approved this border with California, the phrase "to the eastern border of California" is generally INTENDED to mean to the eastern edge of California as it existed at that time, NOT to whatever line California saw fit to claim after the fact. My previous post explains this as to how INTENT relates to the Tenn-Geo issue. With regads to intent, consider the following: You have a deed that says you own 100 acres. You decide to sell the northern 50 acres (half) to your friend and keep southern 50 acres for yourself. You could have a deed drawn up that says you are giving the friend the northern 50 acres or you could have a deed drawn up that says you are giving the friend the north half of your land. Either one of these deeds would be perfectly legal (or were, the "half" scenerio is generally frowned upon now, but they still exist), and it appears that both have the same INTENT, however, they do not. If a subsequent survey finds that the 100 acre tract was only 80 acres, those two deeds now have totally different meanings. If you worded the deed to say "northern 50 acres", the friend gets 50 acres, and you are stuck with the remainder 30 acres. If the deed says "northern half", you and your friend now both own 40 acres. The biggest thing to realize here is that what the surveyor says the line is and what the legislature accepts as the boundary are only opinions. ONLY A JUDGE can definatively say "This IS the line." And just FYI, a judge is not bound by standard surveying practices or acts of legislature in this regard. They quite often ignore both and look for a "fair" solution. In this particular case, the boundary has existed for so long and been accepted for so long, I see no way a judge would change it, but then again, judges have a way of suprising you.
2/8/2008 5:55:20 PM
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TommyGun wrote:
Posted earlier, but obviously removed by the jack booted PC police: Have AlGore drain his swimming pool, that'll water Atlanta for a few months. Or, better yet, do your part to support global warming, if the sea levels rise, GA gets more coastline.
2/8/2008 5:03:09 PM
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apod00 wrote:
- Why doesn't Tennesee just sell the water to Georgia ? Is a landgrab really the answer ?? Boy, am I glad I live in the North.
2/8/2008 4:40:55 PM
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JSWin wrote:
Just posing a question to WarreninMtJuliet... California established statehood before Nevada. Nevada's constitution defines its western border as "the eastern border of California." So legally NV has no claim to it's own land if California decides to change things? That argument is precisely why lawyers stay in business.
2/8/2008 4:37:54 PM
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GeorgiaSUCKS wrote:
Hi, I am from Tennessee and moved to Atlanta when I was a teenager. When I got there, I had no idea that place was SO incredibly loathsome. The crime in that city is UNBELIEVABLE, and they have an explosion of illegal aliens all over the place as well. The laws as well were ridiculous, and completey infringe on peoples rights. I am CONVINCED that Georgia is run by a bunch of crooked money men, who bring in illegals in order to get their big corrupt projects finished at low labor cost. Also, almost ALL the people in Atlanta were not even from the south. When you go to Atlanta you feel like you are in Yankee territory. I mean, have you ever heard in your life something like this happening?! "Umm yeah, we are so corrupt and stupid that we could'nt solve our water shortage, so umm lets just take over part of another State.". I now live back home in Tennessee, and refuse to go to Atlanta or any other part of the State unless I have too. Georgia, please fix your State without encroaching upon our other peoples land. I want the FBI to investigate Georgias corrupt representatives.
2/8/2008 4:37:34 PM
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dajedikidd wrote:
Warren, you need to do a little more reading before assuming that the boundary is the 35th parallel, end of discussion. Try the link in one of my previous posts, the following is from that. (EMPHASIS ADDED) "The Camak Stone, thus, according to the scant record that exists, marked the Western terminus of the boundary between Georgia and Tennessee. There is no legal dispute that the 1818 Boundary Commission marked the "thirty-fifth parallel" AS THEY CALCULATED IT using instruments and ephemeris, by their own admission, that were insufficient to achieve the accuracy they desired. AS WITH ALL ORIGINAL BOUNDARY SURVEYS, HOWEVER, THEIR LINE AS MONUMENTED, STILL HOLDS AS THE TRUE LINE NO MATTER HOW "INACCURATE" AS COMPARED TO THE RECORD EVIDENCE." "This boundary between Georgia and Tennessee as per the respective laws enacted in each state is described as follows: "Beginning at a point in the true parallel of the thirty- fifth degree of North latitude, AS FOUND BY James Camak, mathematician on the part of the State of Georgia, and James S. Gaines, mathematician on the part of the State of Tennessee, on a rock about two feet high, four inches thick, and fifteen inches broad, engraved on the North side thus: June 1st. 1818, var. 6 3' 4" East" and on the South side thus, "Geo lat. 35 North; James Camak", which rock stands one mile and twenty-eight poles from the South bank of the Tennessee River, due South from near the old Indian town of Nickajack, and near the top of Nickajack Mountain, at the supposed corner of the States of Georgia and Alabama . . ." I am not claiming I KNOW who is right, I have too much experience in this field to put my neck out without doing extensive research, but those portions I put in CAPS are EXTREMELY important.
2/8/2008 4:36:07 PM
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georgia.dawgs@hotmail.com wrote:
I have to side with Tennesse on this one. Atlanta's main water supply was put online over 50 years ago. They are just now working to build another reservoir. It was Sept 2007 before any semi-serious water restrictions were implemented in Atlanta. This was far after Lake Lanier was in crisis. I think Atlanta and Georgia are a day late all the way around. I guess they were too busy keeping those BMW, Lexus, Infinity, and Mercedes vehicles spotlessly clean to worry about a little water problem.
2/8/2008 4:07:00 PM