Roy, you're such a generous kind-hearted soul. You're so generous you'd give away Tennessee mineral rights just because "it's the right thing to do."

Of course, the Army Corp of Engineers will say anything when it is they who deplete North Georgia's reservoirs because the EPA commands Georgia to protect wetlands in Alabama. It is the same Army Corp of Engineers who said the Chickamauga Dam lock would last over a hundred years and the same Army Corp of Engineers who never fully repaired the Louisiana levees but have time to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.

Tell you what, Mr. Exum, the Chattanooga citizenry pays 200+% or more than our water costs for sewer access (whether our septic systems work or not) . If you can convince the City Council to suspend double the water fee in sewage, perhaps you may have a chance with those socialist-like ideals of yours. At least we (our representatives) have a choice as to what you advocate giving away. I don't want this. Nobody I know does. Forget Christian ethics in this case. The Tennessee River is just that: The Tennessee River.

Perhaps the answer is preaching to Atlantans about water conservation, preaching to the EPA and throwing the Corps out of Georgia (and Tennessee as well), perhaps preaching about well-digging; perhaps preaching the same to Chattanoogans who are unable to realize that while much of the U.S. is in long-term drought, we are seemingly immune to thirst. And you want to give it all away on the questionable comments of the same Corps of Engineers who only now say "It's OK" after years of saying "there's no way to tell.". Sounds less like engineering and more like than political pressure to me.

Run a garden hose from your own backyard spigot to aid those poor, wealthy wretches in Atlanta, but keep your overly-generous paws off the rest of our water. Rivers change courses, dry up, become polluted. Can the Corps tell you when this will or will not happen? Absolutely not.

Our Tennessee River is like money in the bank to hedge on desperate times in the future. If Atlanta can't get water through the tap, trade in all those Lexuses, Mercedes and Volvos for a Hyundai and buy bottled water with what's left over. Stop filling their swimming pools and watering their lawns. But mostly, stop the Corps from diverting North Georgia's water to another state. That's just stupid. Oh, what am I saying...it's the EPA.

Does "generous to a fault" ring a bell?

David D. Fihn

Hixson

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Re: Roy Exum: 60 Square Miles For 1.5

"Flush Twice"

An excellent idea, Mr. Exum. We definitely should allow Georgia to tap into the Tennessee River, downstream, as I understand it, from Chattanooga.

Then post this sign where appropriate, throughout the city: "Flush Twice, Atlanta Needs The Water."

Everett Kidder