Water Reduction Puts Entire Region At Risk

Submitted by apalachi on Fri, 2008-06-13 00:00

Counties bordering Apalachicola River say water reduction puts entire region at risk.

Friday, June 13, 2008 Publication:Tallahassee Democrat

View article on Tallahassee Democrat

Some counties along the Apalachicola River are asking Gov. Charlie Crist to take legal action to block a reduction in water flow from Georgia and Alabama.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week approved a 10-percent reduction in the historic minimum low flow into the river, which supports rare fish and wildlife and the seafood industry in Apalachicola Bay.

Gulf County this week was preparing to ask Crist to petition the federal courts to block the request, County Attorney Tim McFarland said. Franklin County made a similar request to Crist on June 6, saying the local seafood industry would be devastated by a lack of fresh water.

"He (Crist) has stood true as far as not selling us down the creek," Franklin County Commissioner Joseph "Smokey" Parrish said. "We got to move forward for what's good for the entire state of Florida."

The governor is aware of Franklin County's concerns and will consult with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on possible legal action in response to both requests, said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the governor.

Crist last week said the federal decision was "disappointing" and "places the economic and environmental future of an entire region at risk."

The Fish and Wildlife Service approved a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers request to keep more water in the Lake Lanier federal reservoir north of Atlanta if the drought continues. The service said the reduction would not threaten the survival of threatened and endangered mussels and sturgeon in the Apalachicola River.

Atlanta area officials also are unhappy. But they say the Corps' plan does little to prevent Lake Lanier, a water supply for 3.5 million people, from draining further. The lake is nearly 10 feet lower than it was a year ago, before Georgia officials began warning that they were running out of water.