ALABAMA-COOSA-TALLAPOOSA RIVER BASIN COMPACT AND THE APALACHICOLA-CHATTA- HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION DECEMBER 19, 2001 Serial No. 54 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/judiciary 76-809 PDF U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office The Honorable Bob Barr, a Representative in Congress From the State of Georgia, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative The Honorable Melvin L. Watt, a Representative in Congress From the State of North Carolina, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Commercial The Honorable Newt Gingrich, chief executive officer, The Gingrich Group The Honorable Lindsay Thomas, Federal Commissioner, Alabama-Coosa- Tallapoosa and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin Commissions ALABAMA-COOSA-TALLAPOOSA RIVER BASIN COMPACT AND THE APALACHICOLA-CHATTAHOOCHEE AND FLINT RIVER BASIN COM PACT WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 19, 2001 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:28 a.m., in Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Bob Barr [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. Mr. BARR. I would like to convene this hearing of the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law to consider matters and receive testimony relating to testimony relating to the Alabama-CoosaTallapoosa, Apalachicola-Chattahoochee and Flint River Basin Compacts. We are pleased today to conduct our first hearing on the progress of the ACT and ACF River Basin Compacts, as they are commonly known by their acronyms. These two compacts accomplished commissions involving the States of Georgia, Florida and Alabama which entrusted them with the development of a water resource allocation plan for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee and Flint River Basins. The two compacts were approved by the Congress in 1997 pursuant to article 1, section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which provides that no State shall without consent of Congress enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign power. The Constitution mandates congressional authorization so that Federal interests and those of other States will be considered and protected. Proper utilization and allocation of water resources at the river basins in question is vital to the economic life and development of the entire region. Accordingly, cooperation among Alabama, Florida and Georgia is essential if a fair and reasonable allocation is to be achieved. Without a cooperative effort, wasteful litigation would appear to be inevitable, the type of litigation which the Supreme Court has repeatedly tried to discourage and the type of litigation that is guaranteed to drag on for years, if not decades, with no one being the better for it. (1) |