The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Water Control Manual for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin on December 7, 2016, pending a 30-day state and agency review.
The FEIS represents the results of USACE’s analysis of the environmental effects of the Proposed Action Alternative (PAA) for the ACF River Basin Water Control Manual.
USACE evaluated an array of potential water management and water supply storage alternatives during the WCM update process, resulting in the selection of the PAA. Under the PAA, USACE would continue to operate the ACF as a system in a balanced manner to achieve all authorized project purposes,” said USACE Mobile District Public Affairs Officer E. Patrick Robbins.
The PAA includes the following changes from current operations:
- Revised action zones
- Revised drought operations triggers
- Seasonal minimum flows at Peachtree Creek
- Modified hydropower generation schedule at Buford Dam for drought operations
- Four to five month navigation season (when basin hydrologic conditions allow)
- Suspension of ramping rates (Jim Woodruff Dam) during prolonged low flows
- Revised West Point Lake flood zone segmentation
The PAA also includes the following water supply provisions:
- Gross withdrawals of 242 million gallons per day (mgd) upstream of Buford Dam (includes reallocation of storage in Lake Lanier sufficient to provide gross water supply withdrawals of 222 mgd and the existing 20 mgd relocation contracts).
- Releases from Buford Dam to support downstream withdrawals of the estimated year 2050 sufficient to accommodate up to 379 mgd.
An online version of the FEIS and appendices may be found here.
A 30-day state and agency review will follow publication of the FEIS in the Federal Register on December 16, 2016.
This is good news for Lake Lanier.
