Years ago a Georgia planner joked, half seriously, that the
Peach State should just “stick a straw” in the Tennessee River
to bring water to thirsty Atlanta. The analogy may turn out to
be easier than anyone thought. Regional cavers are suggesting on
their blogs that Georgia take advantage of Tennessee River water
backed up years ago by TVA dams into Nickajack Cave and some
connected caverns. They say water captured from the Tennessee
River flows underground into Georgia and Alabama. If engineers
could drill in, then courts might have to decide if the water is
groundwater or impounded Tennessee River water. Tennessee’s
Department of Environment and Conservation officials acknowledge
the cave drilling idea is a possibility. There may be a river
water connection to cave streams in Georgia, said Tisha
Calabrese-Benton, spokeswoman for the department. “Do we know
whether there is a specific place in Georgia where someone could
drill and hit an underground lake that existed in some capacity
before Nickajack was fl