Feldman had coordinated a series of symposia on water issues that helped lay groundwork for Tennessee's water bill. The regional meetings, "Southeast Water Resources: Management and Supply" (Chattanooga, August 1998) and the "Southeast Water Supply Roundtable" (Peachtree City, Georgia, November 1998), addressed the need to head off regional water conflicts and foster interstate cooperation.

As a result of the conferences and growing state concern over the water needs of Atlanta, Memphis, the Cumberland Plateau, and other areas, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation commissioned EERC's Feldman to study the problem in depth. State officials, weighing the report's conclusions against the possibility of out-of-state diversions, took steps to enact new legislation.

With the Inter-Basin Water Transfer Act, lawmakers protected not only surface waters such as rivers, lakes, and springs, but the underground water supply as well. Six southern states that border Tennessee--Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia--had already enacted legislation to regulate withdrawals of their water resources, giving Tennessee good reason to seek protection of its own waters.

Feldman worked closely with TDEC attorney Alan Leiserson and Dodd Galbreath, head of the state's Environmental Policy Office, to ensure the Act would withstand any potential legal challenges. The final version of the bill exempts current riparian uses such as agricultural irrigation, and allows current diverters to continue. It also gives TDEC authority to charge new diverters for permitting costs and levy fines up to $10,000 for violations.

Tennessee's instream use of water supports hydroelectric power, fisheries, and recreation. This water flows through dams straight back into the rivers it comes from. Likewise, most offstream uses--which removes water from streams--returns it to the river of origin. However, diversions that remove water from its basin of origin--transporting water from Chattanooga to Atlanta, for instance--can threaten Tennessee's water supply, particularly during dry periods.

The Inter-Basin Water Transfer Act divides the state into 10 river basins and requires public bodies, such as municipal water suppliers and any private company providing water to the public, to register annual withdrawals. Permits are granted for five years and are renewable.

The river-basin approach to water management ensures that most of the water withdrawn for public and municipal use returns to the river basin of origin. It also ensures that any legitimate diversions are conducted in an economically and environmentally benign manner. In short, the Act gives the state authorityto determine when a transfer is appropriate and when it's not appropriate, based on its impact on people downstream.

"The bottom line is that if you remove water from one river and send it to another,somebody downstream might be negatively affected," says TDEC's Galbreath. "The University of Tennessee and its academicresources have played a crucial role in arming the state with the information it needs to properly prepare for future challenges."

EERC's final report, "Water Supply Challenges Facing Tennessee," is available on the Web at < http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/divisions/wrrc/water_supply/index.htm>. Julia O. Elmendorf, a lawyer and former EERC research assistant coauthored the report.

For more information contact:

David Feldman
EERC, The University of Tennessee
311 Conference Center Building
Knoxville, TN 37996-4134,

or call: 865-974-4086