Tennessee Laughing at Revived Georgia Border Dispute

This watershed map shows just how close Georgia is to the Tennessee River. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Georgia’s attempt to run a pipeline to the Tennessee River has become a punch line for Governor Bill Haslam, who addressed the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning.

“We’ll take the Atlanta Braves and they can have access to the water,” he said jokingly.

Haslam says he has fielded several recommendations, including a trade for Sea Island or Stone Mountain.

While Tennesseans are laughing, legislators in Georgia are serious about moving the state line. They argue that the border was misplaced nearly 200 years ago and should be moved north. This would also give them a much-needed water source for Atlanta, which has been outgrowing its reservoirs.

Georgia is threatening to take Tennessee to court if an agreement isn’t reached by roughly this time next year.