The Georgia Senate on Monday passed a resolution 48-2 offering Tennessee a "settlement" of a long-standing border dispute. If Tennessee does not take the deal, the Georgia attorney general would be authorized to file suit in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The resolution calls for Georgia to give up most of its claim in exchange for a narrow stretch of unoccupied territory along TVA land tying to Nickajack Lake.
Georgia, with dwindling water supplies for the thirsty Atlanta Metro area, has long eyed a tap into the abundant waters of the Tennessee River.
It calls for dropping all the claim "except for an area described as follows which shall be made a part of the State of Georgia by which Georgia shall be able to exercise its riparian water rights to the Tennessee River at Nickajack."