Barrister Bullets

BARRISTERS HOLIDAY PARTY AND ELECTION

To celebrate the holidays and elect our new Executive Committee officers, the Barristers will be hosting an outdoor holiday party and election event on Wednesday, December 8 from 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at The Firefly, the patio at the Hilton Knoxville. A short program recognizing this year’s executive committee, committee chairs, past presidents, 2021 Barristers President Amanda Tonkin, and 2022 Barristers President Meagan Collver will begin at 5:45 p.m. The person elected Vice-President in December will automatically become the Barristers President for the 2023 bar year. The social will follow thereafter. Complimentary hot and cold beverages will be provided. Click December 8 in the event calendar at www.knoxbar.org to see the list of candidates and register for the meeting.

BARRISTERS ANNUAL COAT DRIVE A SUCCESS

The Knoxville Barristers Annual Coat Drive ended on November 5. The Knoxville Barristers partnered with Knox Areas Rescue Ministries with the goal of collecting thousands of coats for those in need in our area. The Knoxville Barristers Hunger and Poverty Relief Committee would like to thank everyone who participated in the annual KARM Coats for the Cold Program. The drive resulted in 10 extra-large bags of coats for donation to the program.

FOOD & FUND DRIVE FOR SECOND HARVEST

The Barristers Hunger & Poverty Relief Committee would like to thank all of the firms who participated in the Food & Fund Drive Competition for Second Harvest Food Bank. The donations will keep Knoxville fed and healthy this winter!

VETERANS LEGAL ADVICE CLINIC

The Veterans’ Legal Advice Clinic is a joint project of the KBA/Barristers Access to Justice Committees, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Knox Co. Public Defender’s Community Law Office, the UT College of Law, LMU- Duncan School of Law, and the local Veterans Affairs office. This is a general advice and referral clinic which requires attorney volunteers for its continued operation. The next Veterans Legal Clinic will be held in-person at the Knoxville Community Law Office on December 8, 2021 from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m.

VOLUNTEER BREAKFAST COMMITTEE CONTINUES OPERATIONS

The Knoxville Barristers Volunteer Breakfast Committee is now able to prepare and serve breakfast again at the Volunteer Ministry Center, located at 511 N. Broadway, Knoxville, Tennessee at 6:15 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month. Please contact either Mitchell Panter at (865) 546-4646 or Matt Knable at (865) 360-5044 with any questions and/or about volunteering.

BARRISTERS SPARK TOY DRIVE

The Knoxville Barristers Hunger and Poverty Relief Committee is collecting monetary donations for toys that they can adapt for children with alternative needs and disabilities for the SPARK Toy Drive. Please keep an eye out for a flyer with information on how to donate.

LEGAL UPDATE, continued from page 15

The outcome of this case could bear monumental weight for future interstate water disputes—if the Supreme Court agrees with the Special Master’s position on equitable apportionment, the decision could serve as a model for other groundwater conservation and allocation efforts; if the Supreme Court disagrees, many states may begin claiming they “own” groundwater within their state lines, which is likely to lead to a myriad of unforeseen and complicated legal, and practical, disputes. While the southeastern United States has historically enjoyed enough water, the water wars of the western United States offer a preview of what could come; the foregoing demonstrates that turbulent disputes have historically been just below the surface of what may seem calm waters.

1 Senate Energy & Nat. Res. Comm. Subcomm. Water & Power, Examining the Status and Management of Drought Conditions in the Western United States (Oct. 6, 2021) (Statement of Tanya Trujillo, Asst. Sec’y Water & Science, U.S. Dept. Interior), https:// www.doi.gov/ocl/western-us-drought. 2 Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) defines riparian rights, “The right of a landowner whose property borders on a body of water or watercourse. Such a landowner traditionally has the right to make reasonable use of the water.” 3 Christopher L. Len, Synthesis – A Brand New Water Law, 8 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 55, 55 (2004). 4 See, e.g., Mitchell S. Ashkenaz, Man V. Mussel, The Gloves Are Coming Off: Supreme Court Equitable Apportionment and the Tri-State Water Wars, 18 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 1 (2014). 5 C. Hansell Watt, IV, Who Gets the Hooch?: Georgia, Florida, and Alabama Battle for Water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, 55 Mercer L. Rev. 1453, 1457 (2004). 6 U.S. Dep’t State, 4 Territorial Papers of the United States 84–85 (Report of the Secretary of State to the President), 424–25 (An Act for the Admission of the State of Tennessee) (Clarence E. Carter ed., 1936). 7 See Susan Haynes & Elizabeth Hornbrook, Boundaries and Jurisdiction of the State: Proposing a Settlement of the Boundary Between the State of Georgia and the State of Tennessee; and for Other Purposes, 30 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 241, 243 (2013). 8 Georgia Legislature Again Tries to Claim Land in Tennessee, SustainAtlanta (April 5, 2019), https://sustainatlanta.com/2019/04/05/georgia-legislature-again-tries-toclaim-land-in-tennessee/. 9 US Geological Service Topographical Map, NEW HOME, GA-AL-TN TNM GEOSPATIAL, https://store.usgs.gov/product/463614. The Nickajack Reservoir pool of the Tennessee river currently comes within 200 feet of the Tennessee – Georgia border (last visited Nov. 4, 2021). 10 Haynes, supra note 7, at 243. 11 U.S. Const. art. III, § 2; see also Florida v. Georgia, 141 S.Ct. 1175, 1180 (2021). 12 Florida, 141 S.Ct. at 1180 (citation omitted). 13 See, e.g., Nebraska v. Wyoming, 325 U.S. 589, 599 (1945) (noting that the Supreme Court uses equitable apportionment irrespective of whether the complaining states are riparian or priority of appropriation states; the method of equitable apportionment takes the state common law into consideration in the analysis). 14 See, e.g., New Jersey v. New York, 283 U.S. 336, 342 (1931) (“The different transitions and practices in different parts of the country may lead to varying results but the effort always is to secure an equitable apportionment without quibbling over formulas.”). 15 Florida’s Motion for Leave to File a Complaint, Complaint, and Brief in Support of Motion, Florida v. Georgia, No. 142 (Oct. 1, 2013). 16 Id. ¶ 42. 17 Ralph I. Lancaster, Jr., Report of the Special Master, Florida v. Georgia, No. 142 (U.S. Feb. 16, 2017). 18 Paul J. Kelly Jr., Report of the Special Master, Florida v. Georgia, No. 142 (U.S. Dec. 11, 2019). 19 Florida, 141 S.Ct. at 1181–83. 20 Complaint, Mississippi v. Tennessee, No. 143 (U.S. June 6, 2014). 21 Id. ¶ 14, 18. 22 Id. ¶¶ 52–55. For more information on the Sparta-Memphis aquifer, see The Memphis Aquifer, University of Memphis CAESER, https://caeser.memphis.edu/ resources/memphis-aquifer/ (last visited Nov. 2, 2021). 23 Complaint, supra note 20 at ¶¶ 38, 48–50. 24 Eugene E. Siler, Jr., Report of the Special Master at 26, Mississippi v. Tennessee, No. 143 (U.S. Nov. 5, 2020). 25 Id. 26 Id. at 26. 27 Mississippi’s Brief in Support of Motion for Leave to File Bill of Complaint in Original Action at i-ii, Mississippi v. Tennessee, No. 143 (U.S. June 6, 2014).