Alabamian named commissioner in water allocation talks

ANNISTON, ALABAMA - A Birmingham businessman and attorney is the president&#39;s choice to become commissioner for the water allocation talks involving Georgia and Alabama. <br> <br> President Bush announced Friday his intention to appoint Drayton Nabors as federal commissioner of the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa Compact. <br> <br> Compacts on the Appalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin and the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basin were organized by Congress in 1997 and were approved by Alabama, Florida and Georgia to craft a water-sharing plan. Negotiations began in 1998. <br> <br> The states continue to negotiate. For the last 10 years, the states have bickered over the water that flows through the river basins. <br> <br> Alec Poitevint of Bainbridge, Ga., is the likely appointment to oversee the ACF Compact, which involves all three states, The Anniston Star reported. <br> <br> During negotiations, which at times have teetered on the verge of collapse, the federal commissioner has acted more as a facilitator than an active participant. <br> <br> Once the states strike a deal, the commissioner must decide whether to concur or reject it if he finds it violates federal law. <br> <br> The current commissioners, Lindsay Thomas of Georgia and alternate Pete Conroy of Jacksonville, were Clinton administration appointees. <br> <br> ``They are making a change and this is one of those things that goes with a presidential appointment,&#39;&#39; said Thomas, who has met with Poitevint. <br> <br> The compacts have been extended to January. Last year, Alabama and Georgia reached what was described as a tentative agreement for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basin, but that proposal is no longer intact. <br> <br> Alabama&#39;s chief negotiator, Jim Campbell, said a new Georgia proposal for the planned West Georgia Reservoir on the Tallapoosa river has ``required us to rethink some of the assumptions we (Alabama) have made to this point.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> As for Nabors, Campbell said, ``I&#39;m sure he is going to be as evenhanded as Lindsay was.&#39;&#39;