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It's About Jobs, Not Mussels

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The Apalachicola Times

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2008

Florida and Alabama have long contended that Lake Lanier was part of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint rivers system from the get-go, a critical part and as such should be treated as if jointly owned by the stakeholders in the system, in the case at the extreme southern end of the system, the seafood industry.

Simply put, the entire issue over the rights to the water of Lake Lanier (near Atlanta) a creation of the federal government through damming a valley and flooding it, has long been perceived as another slap at the seafood industry, another attempt to stamp out livelihoods. To couch the argument in terms of mussels and plants is off base - this is about the ability to put food on the table, to place a roof over heads, to ply a trade. So, the judge, in telling all parties - including the Corps - to cool their jets while he decides the rights to Lake Lanier is a positive for all concerned, though folks in Georgia aren't likely to that mindset.

The courtroom is the proper venue for determining what each of the three states has staked out, to varying degrees and methods, as a property rights issue.

May this judge, and his decision, be a wise one. By deciding to tackle this central question of rights to the waters of Lake Lanier, he's off to a good start.

From The Apalachicola Times

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