Where will Georgia get enough water to meet demand next year, and in the forseeable future?
There are two plans on the table this week, but the Georgia legislature is only looking at one for now.
Some call this "Georgia's wasted water".
The old Brown rock quarry near McFarland road is centrally-located to all of the major waterways draining from North Georgia into the Tennessee River.
That represents about 1-billion-400 million gallons a day.
Representative Jay Neal of Lafayette asks, why not pump that water into this quarry and then pipe it to the middle of the state?
REP. JAY NEAL, (R) LAFAYETTE "This is something we know can happen..we know this will work..we've got the creeks tight here in the area, we've got the quarries right here ..We've got a railroad line right here in the area...with a right of way nearly to the Atlanta area."
Businessman Leonard Nixon, who owns the quarry, says he's been pushing the idea for 7 years.
LEONARD NIXON , OWNER OF THE BROWN QUARRY "What we are talking about here is 300-million gallons of water a day for Atlanta."
Neal has introduced legislation clearing the way for that to happen.
The legislature has gone along enthusiastically.
REP. JAY NEAL, (R) LAFAYETTE "Its something that can be done rather than have to depend on our neighboring states or a ruling form a court,"
Dade county executive Ted Rumley says there's a better way to solve the problem, and that is to continue negotiations with Tennessee to tap into Nickajack Lake.
Rumley, who was in Blairsville today, quotes a study done by an engineering company.
VOICE OF TED RUMLEY, DADE COUNTY EXECUTIVE "The actual water source from those three creeks is too unpredictable to supply the one billion gallon a day that would be needed for this project."
Rumley says that Nickajack water could be directed through his county to central Georgia, creating a major industry in Dade county.
That idea is still a source of negotiation between Tennessee and Georgia .
The original legislation dealing with the water issue passed the senate and the house last spring.
