During his Feb. 10 State of the State address, Gov. Bill Lee outlined a bold conservation strategy. He proposed investments to protect the Duck River alongside legislation to curb Tennessee’s rapid loss of farmland.
While I am grateful for Governor Lee’s proposals, I worry that other legislation presently pending in the Tennessee legislature will undermine his efforts.
As a native Tennessean, I am grateful for Governor Lee’s conservation mindset. I grew up on a cattle farm in Bon Aqua, Tennessee, and when I’m not working my day job, I raise cows there with my brother on our family farm in the Duck River watershed.
Investing millions in the Duck River is the right thing to do
The Duck River needs and deserves our protection. It’s one of the most biodiverse rivers in the world, supports a thriving sport fishery, and provides drinking water to more than a quarter-million people. But the river is suffering from growing stressors. Droughts are becoming longer and more severe while industrial and residential water demands are increasing.
Water continues to flow at Duck River in Centerville, Tenn., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
During last summer’s drought, water levels in the river plunged to historic lows, putting the river’s health and world-class aquatic ecosystems in jeopardy.
At the same time, local utilities are planning to increase dramatically the amount of water they pump from the Duck River to keep pace with Middle Tennessee’s rapid development. Those utilities want permission to pull an additional 22 million gallons of water from the Duck each day, and those threats recently landed the Duck River on a list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers.
The rapid growth that is fueling increased water consumption from the Duck is also consuming farmland at alarming rates. Tennessee is losing farmland to development at a rate of ten acres per hour.
Opinion: After a 28-day Duck River trip, I know this Tennessee waterway is in trouble
It is against that backdrop that Governor Lee proposes investing $100 million in a regional water supply strategy for the Duck River watershed, and his administration is introducing farmland conservation legislation targeted at helping farmers and curbing farmland loss. But those efforts could be undermined by other legislation.
These bills would undermine the governor’s efforts
A recently introduced bill (HB0895/SB0725) would allow a huge landfill to be built on the banks of the Duck River in Maury County. That proposal would strip away protections for Tennessee scenic rivers, and it would threaten downstream communities with harmful pollution.
Another bill (HB0541/SB0670) would remove state law protections for more than 300,000 acres of Tennessee’s wetlands, including wetlands that recharge the groundwater system connected to the Duck River.
Wetlands help keep Tennesseans safe and healthy by soaking up floodwaters and acting as natural sponges and filters. Wetlands slowly release water into our surface and groundwater systems, replenishing our springs, streams, rivers, and underground drinking water aquifers. Without abundant wetlands, our springs, streams, and groundwater systems dry up more quickly during drought, and our neighbors and communities suffer more flooding when hard rains come.
The upper Duck River watershed is a hotspot for wetlands, and if we destroy those wetlands, we will destroy the groundwater system that recharges the river with healthy flow.
Removing legal protections for wetlands will turbocharge farmland loss and make remaining farmland less productive. Farmers should not be forced to suffer losses when crop fields are flooded by runoff from nearby developments, and they should not be forced to worry about their creeks, springs and groundwater wells drying up during drought.
I hope that our lawmakers will not undercut Governor Lee’s conservation priorities by stripping protections for Tennessee’s scenic waterways and wetlands.
George Nolan is director of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Tennessee office.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee bills undercut Gov. Bill Lee’s conservation agenda | Opinion
