Residents of Dade County have spent much of their history feeling ignored by the rest the state. For decades people had to cut through Alabama or Tennessee to get to the county in the northwest corner of Georgia, and some residents still get key services from out of state. It even got left off the state quarter.

"We always seem to be an afterthought," says Ben Brandon, the county's chief executive.

But the county of 16,000 is finally getting some attention thanks to a historic drought - and the fact that it's the only part of Georgia that's a stone's throw from the massive Tennessee River.

Lawmakers in drought-stricken Georgia have empowered the governor to sue to correct a flawed 1818 survey that mistakenly placed Georgia's northern line just short of the Tennessee River, which boasts a flow about 15 times greater than the one Atlanta depends on for water.

Meanwhile, other politicians have suggested doing a little horse trading for the big water rights: Georgia could swap a high-speed rail line link to Chattanooga in exchange for access to the river.

Either way, Dade County's tantalizing proximity to the river figures to give the county a prominent role in the negotiations.

County leaders are already putting plans in motion. They signed an agreement with a water firm in 2005 to begin scouting possible locations for a pumping station in Dade County and a potential pipeline route to supply parched north Georgia.

Tennessee officials have mocked Georgia's efforts and even quipped they would take up arms in self-defense.

If Georgia fails in its long-shot bid to move the state line, engineers are also preparing a backup plan to tap the aquifers underlying the region around the river.

Full Story: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_gap_drought
_state_line.html