Historians, take note: On this day, which is not a day in 1732, a boundary dispute between two Southern states took a turn for the wet. In a two-page resolution passed overwhelmingly by the state senate, Georgia declared that it, not its neighbor to the north, controls part of the Tennessee River at Nickajack. Georgia doesn't want Nickajack. It wants that water. 
 
 Georgia's claim is that the boundary between the states was set at latitude 35° north when Georgia first gave up the Mississippi territory, but that a lousy 1818 survey ended up putting that state boundary a mile south of where it should have been. The blue line on this map is a rough approximation of that latitude parallel. 
 
 Georgia's not worried about its sovereign territory, like the Pennamite Wars that pitted Pennsylvania against Connecticut before the Revolutionary War. Nor is it an ideological conflict like that in the Koreas, which, interestingly, centers around the 38th parallel. What Georgia cares about is that splash of blue that is the Tennessee River. 
 
 During the summer of 2012, up to 95 percent of the state experienced some level of drought; in December, it hit 99 percent. Last May, nearly a quarter of the state experienced drought that registered as extreme. Despite the state legislature arguing that the drought wasn't that bad (in an effort to avoid hurting the landscaping industry), it was. 
 
 Nor was last year the first time such a drought imperiled the state. In 2008, there was a similarly bad drought — prompting the state to try to gain access to the river by moving the boundary north. Tennessee rejected that effort. 
 
 Georgia's renewed focus on accessing the river isn't just a smart plan for right now. (Eighty percent of the state is still under drought conditions.) Climate change is likely to ensure ongoing droughts of similar magnitude, making an additional steady source of freshwater a critical need for the state. 
 
 If Tennessee agrees to redrawing the state line, the issue would be brought to Congress for approval. If it doesn't, the result probably won't be war. At least not between Georgia and Tennessee. Shortly after leaving the upper corner of Georgia, the river flows into Alabama, which last year saw drought cover 72 percent of its state. The odds are good Alabama isn't eager to give up its water either. 
 
 Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at pbump at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. 
 
 Philip Bump ||||| Georgia senators today passed a resolution calling for the correction of survey areas along the state’s northern border in a 48-2 vote, a news release states. 
 
 “The Tennessee Valley Authority has identified the Tennessee River as a likely source of water for North Georgia,” said Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, as he presented the resolution. “Yet the state of Tennessee has used mismarked boundary lines to block our access to this important waterway.” 
 
 Georgia House Resolution 4 proposes a settlement of the boundary dispute, based on almost 200-year-old survey errors, clarifying Georgia’s access to Tennessee River water. It directs the state’s attorney general to sue to gain control of the entire area south of the 35th parallel if no agreement is reached with Tennessee, the Georgia Senate Press Office release states. 
 
 House Resolution 4 now returns to the House for agreement on amendments made by the Senate. 
 
 The Tennessee Valley Authority must approve interbasin water transfer that take water out of the Tennessee River watershed. TVA says it has not recommended using the river as a primary water source for North Georgia. 
 
 "We aren’t certain where Sen. Shafer got his information, but TVA is not involved in this discussion at this point," TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said. ||||| Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal walks into a press conference to announce he has vetoed legislation allowing clergy to refuse performing gay marriage and protecting people who refuse to attend the ceremonies... (Associated Press) 
 
 Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal walks into a press conference to announce he has vetoed legislation allowing clergy to refuse performing gay marriage and protecting people who refuse to attend the ceremonies Monday, March 28, 2016, in Atlanta. The Republican rejected the bill on Monday, saying "I have examined... (Associated Press) 
 
 ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's term-limited Gov. Nathan Deal took a stand against his own party and averted threatened boycotts by major corporations on Monday by announcing his veto of a "religious freedom" bill. 
 
 "I do not think that we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia," the Republican governor declared. 
 
 Religious conservatives had campaigned hard for Deal's signature, but the industries he has recruited to Georgia also applied pressure. 
 
 The NFL warned that Atlanta's bid for the 2019 or 2020 Super Bowl could be in jeopardy. Technology firms, led by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, asked for Deal's veto. The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Studios and dozens of Hollywood figures vowed to take projects elsewhere, despite Georgia's generous tax credits for the film industry. Multimillion-dollar events and investments were threatened. 
 
 Lawmakers around the nation are advancing "religious freedom" measures, which have passed at least one chamber in ten states: Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. But Deal said only the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution can protect people of faith — along with everybody else. 
 
 "If indeed our religious liberty is conferred by God and not by man-made government, we should heed the 'hands-off' admonition of the First Amendment to our Constitution," Deal said. "When legislative bodies attempt to do otherwise, the inclusions and omissions in their statutes can lead to discrimination, even though it may be unintentional. That is too great a risk to take." 
 
 Deal's veto stands in sharp contrast to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's signature last week on a law that prohibits local anti-discrimination ordinances and obligates transgender people to use restrooms matching their birth certificates. The outcomes highlight the increasing conflicts between the twin pillars of the GOP's power structure — religion and business — in legislatures where Republicans have overwhelming majorities. 
 
 McCrory, a 59-year-old Republican seeking a second term in Raleigh, must mobilize his party's core voters in November. Deal, now 74 and not planning to run again for office, is relatively immune to such pressures. Neither did Deal dwell on social issues in his re-election campaign; instead celebrating Georgia's ranking as the "No. 1 state for business." 
 
 Emboldened by the boycott threats that forced Indiana to revise its "religious freedom" law last year, Georgia's business community formed a coalition of more than 500 companies, including Cola-Cola, Delta Air Lines and other top employers, to counter the measure. 
 
 Many have large operations in Atlanta, a city proud of the pragmatic, "too busy to hate" image it fostered in the civil rights era. Back then, Coca-Cola's Robert Woodruff, former mayors William Hartsfield and Ivan Allen and other civic leaders wanted to avoid unrest that might spook companies deciding where to locate their regional headquarters. 
 
 But their efforts were focused within the city. The legislature is more unwieldy, with lawmakers representing a blend of urban newcomers and rural southerners. 
 
 Georgia legislators had sparred for three years over protecting people whose religious beliefs clash with state and local laws. After the U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing gay marriage, proponents pushed even harder. Legislative leaders finally drafted what they considered a compromise, and only 11 GOP lawmakers joined every Democrat in opposition. 
 
 House Speaker David Ralston said he respects Deal's "thoughtful consideration" but doesn't believe the bill permits discrimination. 
 
 The measure included language modeled on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. People claiming their religious freedoms are burdened could force state and local governments to prove a "compelling" interest in enforcing laws that conflict with their beliefs. It also would have protected clergy who decline to perform gay marriages, businesses that turn away customers for religious reasons, and churches and affiliated religious groups that cite faith as a reason for refusing to serve or hire someone. 
 
 But Deal said he could "find no examples that any of the things this bill seeks to protect us against have ever occurred in Georgia." 
 
 Supporters touted language that the bill did not permit discrimination prohibited by federal or state law. But since Georgia law lacks protections for LGBT people, opponents said the bill would strike local ordinances that do prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 
 
 Georgia's General Assembly has adjourned for the year, but the issue is sure to come up again when lawmakers return in January. 
 
 "We're not going to quit," said Mike Griffin, spokesman for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. "We definitely don't want to have Gov. Deal listening to Wall Street and Hollywood over the citizens of the state of Georgia who expect him to support religious liberty." 
 
 Some Republican strategists hope those efforts will attract less attention to the state. 
 
 "Maybe there can be some constructive conversations that take place when the legislature's not in session," said Eric Tanenblatt, who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Sonny Perdue. "From an economic development standpoint, it was not helpful having news stories across the country talking about this issue in Georgia." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Contributors include Associated Press writers Bill Barrow and Ryan Phillips in Atlanta and Russ Bynum in Savannah.
– Georgia's Senate has voted 48-2 to shift the state's northern border to include a sliver of land it says was wrongly given to Tennessee by a surveyor's blunder in 1818. Georgia says the "mismarked boundary lines" have denied it access to the Tennessee River as a source of water and it says it will take its northern neighbor to court if it doesn't agree to surrender a slice of land big enough to allow it to do so, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal would have to sign off on any border change, as would Tennessee and the US Congress, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution adds. "It is not something that would negatively impact the water supply of Tennessee," Deal says. The border dispute isn't likely to spark war between Georgia and Tennessee—but Alabama sits just downstream from the disputed area and, since it has suffered from drought as much as northern Georgia in recent years, it is unlikely to give up its water without some kind of fight, the Atlantic notes.