Mr. Douglas W. Lamont, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, has signed the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin Master Water Control Manual Update and Water Supply Storage Assessment, and the South Atlantic Division Commander has approved and implemented updated Water Control Manuals for the ACF Basin in accordance with the ROD.
The water control manuals comply with all applicable laws and will govern operations of the five Federal dam-and-reservoir projects in the basin under existing congressional authorizations, taking into account changes in basin hydrology and demands from years of growth and development, new and rehabilitated project features, legal developments, water supply uses, and environmental issues. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considered public comments submitted by the States of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, and many other interested stakeholders.
"The manuals and accompanying EIS were developed after extensive stakeholder, state and agency input over a period of many years," said Lisa Hunter, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District Public Affairs Officer. "These manuals provide the framework on how the Federal projects in the ACF River Basin will be operated for their authorized purposes, in light of current conditions and applicable law."
In accordance with the ROD, the updated water control manuals will "operate the federal projects as a balanced and integrated system to meet all authorized project purposes in the ACF Basin, and would formally accommodate current and projected water supply uses of Lake Lanier in response to the 2011 Eleventh Circuit decision and the State of Georgia’s revised (2015) request." The updated manuals will conform to the terms and conditions of a Biological Opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2016 to avoid jeopardy to Federally-listed threatened and endangered species in the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay. The updated manuals incorporate a new drought operations plan to improve the resilience of the system during drought.
Release no. 17-008