August 16, 2019
Marianna, FL–More than 50 people, including residents from Jackson, Calhoun, Wakulla, Leon and Washington Counties, enjoyed a “meet and greet” gathering at the Historic Bank Building hosted by staff and board members of Apalachicola Riverkeeper.
Chad Taylor, long-time Marianna resident and former Apalachicola Riverkeeper board member, welcomed attendees and introduced Georgia Ackerman, riverkeeper and executive director. Taylor also recognized the work of George Willson and Sid Folsom, both passed away recently.
Ackerman provided highlights of the ecology of the Apalachicola River along with program updates. Davvinna Brye, a youth artist from Cottonwood, presented Ackerman with her original river painting. 
The Apalachicola River is Florida’s largest river in volume of freshwater flow with the 92-mile Chipola River as its largest tributary. As part of their eco-educational outings, the group leads kayaking trips on both rivers along with hiking excursion during cooler months. In September, a Chipola River trip is being offered.
The Apalachicola River stretches 107 miles from the Woodruff Dam in Chattahoochee, Florida southward to the Gulf of Mexico. It is part of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin (ACF Basin) shared by Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Dams and reservoirs on the Chattahoochee River, controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, altered the once free-flowing river system. Legal disputes over water use in the ACF Basin have lingered for three decades.
Ackerman, updated attendees on the status of the current U.S. Supreme Court case, Florida vs. Georgia. Florida is seeking an equitable apportionment of water via a consumptive use cap on Georgia’s water use to remedy ecological and economic harm due to decreased freshwater flow from upstream. The case is currently under review by a special master, a court appointed judge. More oral arguments by the states will be heard this December by judge Paul Kelly, Jr.
In a separate legal case, conservation partners, including Apalachicola Riverkeeper filed suit in April 2017, against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its ACF water control manual update, the first update since 1958. The lawsuit shows that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to properly protect the environment when it developed a water management plan that will guide freshwater flows through the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system for decades to come. That case also remains in play.
Apalachicola Riverkeeper recently was awarded grant funds to implement a water quality monitoring program. Additionally, a slough restoration project, along the lower Apalachicola River is under consideration for funding.
To learn more about these initiatives and the work of Apalachicola Riverkeeper, including eco-outings, visit www.apalachicolariverkeeper.org
