Florida Lawmakers Seek Delay In Reduced Water Flow

By Billy House, Tampa Tribune, Fla.

Jun. 6–WASHINGTON — Florida lawmakers want the federal government to hold off on a new drought plan allowing operators of federal dams in Georgia to withhold more water for metropolitan Atlanta at the expense of downstream areas.

“We ask that the Corps of Engineers immediately halt the plan so that our concerns can be fully addressed,” states a bipartisan letter circulated and signed by members of Florida’s congressional delegation Thursday.

At issue is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determination this week allowing reduced water outflows from Lake Lanier and other Chattahoochee River reservoirs north of Atlanta.

The service found that releasing less water will not threaten endangered fish and freshwater mussels in northern Florida.

The Florida lawmakers’ letter Thursday is the latest development in the decades-old feud between Florida, Georgia and Alabama over water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, exacerbated by two years of regional drought conditions.

During a meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, several Florida lawmakers said they still think reducing water flows downstream into the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint system could cause irreparable damage to Floridians who depend on the fish, shrimp and oysters in Apalachicola Bay for their livelihood.

The Chattahoochee and Flint rivers form the Apalachicola River.

The corps put its plan into effect Sunday.

“The corps plan is unacceptable,” said Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat.

Nelson said the plan could allow less water than ever into the Apalachicola River — “posing a serious threat to the livelihoods of the fishermen and oyster harvesters who rely on the river to make a living.”

“The only voice that the oysters have is us,” Nelson added at one point in the meeting.

Rep. Allen Boyd, a Republican from Monticello, whose district runs north to the Georgia and Alabama borders, added, “This new water plan is especially frustrating to me because I see it as a reward for Georgia’s lack of long-term water planning.”

“It is not fair to Florida,” agreed Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa.

The Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the retention of more water from the reservoirs would have some adverse effects on Gulf sturgeon and three varieties of mussels in the Apalachicola River and bay, but won’t endanger the existence of these endangered or threatened species.

The service’s go-ahead was needed for the corps to proceed with its so-called Revised Interim Operations Plan, which allows for flows as low as 4,500 cubic feet per second and more storage retention in upstream lakes.

The plan would be in effect for the next five years as the corps rewrites broader regional water control rules. Florida officials have argued that any reduction below the 5,000 cubic feet per second endangers the overall health of what they say is a fragile “econosystem” downstream in Florida.

Also at the meeting Thursday was Brig. General Joseph Schroedel, the South Atlantic Division Commander for the corps. He had little to say about the decision to allow reduced flows, other than it is “the best we can do.”

Schroedel noted that Southeastern states do not have a broad and collaborative regional strategy for dealing with water resources and storage issues.

He proposed that such a state-led, federally supported regional forum of states be created to foster better collaboration, and that the focus should include Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

None of the lawmakers disputed that that might be a good idea.

But Michael Sole, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, responded that “a regional outlook is great; the problem is we’re already doing it in Florida and they aren’t doing it elsewhere.”

Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@tampatrib.com.

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