(2) BIDEN ADMIN INVOKES FEDERAL WATER RIGHTS OVER STATE: Georgia State University law professor Ryan Rowberry said the Biden administration’s unprecedented enforcement of federal water rights at Georgia’s Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge will force states to comply with federal rights over state waterways.
Mining company Twin Pines attorney Lewis Jones said the Biden administration has no legal basis for enforcing federal water rights in eastern states.
Why It Matters: The Biden administration invoking federal water rights over Georgia waterways that flow through the Okefenokee federal land will likely set a precedent the current and future administrations will use to exercise power over state waterways. If the water security situation in the U.S. continues to worsen, with major droughts in the Colorado River Basin and the pending collapse of the Ogallala Aquifer, the federal government could use this precedent to take control of state waterways with the justification that they flow into federal land. – R.C.