MEMPHIS, Tenn. — While most of us have been watching the political sideshow featuring Republicans refusing to accept the results of the presidential election, a very important local story may have gone unnoticed. It involves our most precious resource – water.
Some 15 years ago, the state of Mississippi tried to sue the city of Memphis for, in effect, stealing water from an underground aquifer that crosses the state line, claiming that water belongs to the magnolia state. The case has been kicking around in the courts since then, eventually making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the high court tossed it to a senior federal judge to investigate and make a recommendation.
Last week, he did, and he sided with Memphis. Judge Eugene Siler ruled that the ground water actually covers several states and should be deemed an interstate resource. That means Memphis and Mississippi should share the water – and not be fighting over it.
The judge’s recommendation is a major victory for Memphis. Mississippi had maintained that the city should pay some $615 million for the water Memphians had already consumed, which most observers considered nonsense.
It’s a known fact that the aquifer underneath Memphis is this city’s most valuable asset. The fact that it spreads to other states does not mean that Memphis is hoarding someone else’s water.
In other words, there is enough of it to go around. And that’s my point of view.