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River Agreement Reached

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By BILLY HOUSE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

WASHINGTON - Gov. Charlie Crist emerged from a meeting Thursday with federal officials and his Georgia and Alabama counterparts saying he is "confident" they will work toward a regional water-crisis plan that protects Floridians.

But tensions remain between the feuding states amid what has been a relentless Southeastern drought. And one of the governors joked that the "ultimate solution" will still have to come from a higher-up source.

"I'm going back to Georgia to pray for rain," Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said.

An "interim" plan worked out Thursday gives the Army Corps of Engineers the legal flexibility to reduce the outflow from Lake Lanier in north Georgia into the Chattahoochee River in phases - up to 16 percent - to protect the shrinking drinking water supply for metro Atlanta.

To address concerns of Florida and Alabama about downstream repercussions on the Apalachicola and Flint rivers, the corps will closely monitor the effect each phase of the planned water-flow reduction has on wildlife, fishing, farming, municipalities and power plants.

The plan still must be approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is expected to issue a biological opinion on the change within two weeks.

Crist was not on hand for an earlier meeting Thursday with Bush administration officials, attended by Perdue, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and the four U.S. senators from Alabama and Georgia.

After the later meeting that included Crist, all parties emphasized that a permanent approach to regional drought management and water-sharing has not yet been reached.

"If it were easy, it would have been done 18 years ago," said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who mediated Thursday's talks. "It won't be solved in 18 days."

Perdue said Georgia would pull back from a lawsuit it filed last month against the Army Corps of Engineers if the parties continued negotiating in good faith.

Crist said the three Republican governors and federal officials will meet again in Tallahassee in mid-December. They hope to have their longer-term strategy to address regional drought concerns given to the Army Corps of Engineers by February, he said.

"Florida's commitment is twofold. First, we must all share responsibility during the current drought," Crist said. "The people of Atlanta, the economy of the Florida Panhandle, and the energy needs in Alabama and the Southeast must all be protected."

"Second, working with Gov. Riley and Gov. Perdue, Florida is committed to a long-term solution that focuses on conservation of water on both the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers," Crist continued. "It is tremendously important that a comprehensive long-term solution be adopted so that we do not find ourselves here again."

Concerns Have Been Raised Before

Crist and Florida governors before him have argued that curtailing water flow from Georgia will cause severe harm to Apalachicola Bay's commercial fishing industry, as well as federally protected mussel species.

"We want to make sure that our fishermen that need this water in order to survive, and feed their families, have that opportunity," Crist said.

The three states have been feuding over water rights for nearly two decades, but tensions have reached a new level in recent weeks as the drought continues.

The drought is approaching the worst on record in some states, said Richard Heim, meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climatic Data Center.

And the center's long-range prediction released Thursday for rainfall through January doesn't show much relief, with a forecast of below-normal rainfall for most of the Southeast over the next three months.

"We don't give too much hope for drought-stricken areas in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina," said Douglas LeComte, drought specialist with the Climate Prediction Center, during a conference call with reporters Thursday.

Even worse, the center's forecast calls for drought conditions to worsen in Gulf Coast states, including Florida, during the coming months.

The meetings in Washington centered on how much water the Army Corps of Engineers should hold back in federal reservoirs near the head of two river basins in north Georgia that flow south into Florida and Alabama.

Metro Atlanta's 4 million residents draw upon those lakes for their drinking water. But power plants, other factories, municipalities, farmers, and commercial fishing in Florida and Alabama depend on healthy river flow. The corps also is required to make sure there is enough flow for habitats of species protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Lake Lanier's Downriver Effects

Perdue and other Georgia officials sued the corps last month, arguing that the agency is ignoring a looming crisis in Atlanta because Lake Lanier could have only a few months of water remaining.

Riley has raised concern that a nuclear plant and other Alabama industries that use water from the Chattahoochee will have to close. He also is concerned about the effects on farming.

Riley said after the meeting that his concerns that plants will have to stop operating are addressed sufficiently in the interim agreement.

The failure of the three states to come together on a longer-range plan to address the regional water shortage "is not an option this time," he said.

The flow reduction was not welcome news to the Panhandle environmental group Apalachicola Riverkeeper.

Executive Director Andy Smith said the Apalachicola River is dangerously low, and the diminished flow is changing the character of the flood plain and hurting the oyster beds that hundreds of families depend on to make their living. The flow of fresh water into salty Apalachicola Bay is vital to oyster production. The bay produces 90 percent of Florida's oysters.

"We're seeing a negative impact to the seafood industry because their tonging up more dead oysters," Smith said referring to the long metal rakes used by oystermen. "The only thing that can threaten the sustainability of this economy down here is what happens in Atlanta."

Echoing critics in Alabama and environmental groups in Georgia, Smith said Atlanta is responsible for the water crisis by allowing unrestrained growth and not instituting strict conservation measures.

"They should have been more prepared for this."

Reporters Mike Salinero and Neil Johnson contributed to this report. Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@tampatrib.com.

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