Aug. 25, 2008
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Corps to hold public meetings on manual rewrite STAFF REPORTS MOBILE — The Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week announced it will hold a series of public meetings in September as part of its ongoing efforts to review and update the water control manual for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin.Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Lisa Coghlan told The Post the public is encouraged to attend the meetings, which will "provide information on the update process and afford the opportunity to receive input from the public about their issues and concerns." Alabama Power Company, which operates Weiss Dam and five other hydroelectric generating facilities on the Coosa River in northeast Alabama, has been in the process of renewing its license to operate the dams since 2005. The Corps unexpectedly decided last year that the manual, written in the 1950s, needed to be rewritten before Alabama Power could complete the process of reapplying for the license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Corps made the decision to rewrite the manual shortly after Alabama Power became involved in a lawsuit against the Corps and the state of Georgia. Alabama Power and the state of Alabama sued to stop the Corps and Georgia from increasing transfers of millions of gallons of water to Atlanta. A recent federal court ruling sided with Alabama Power and Alabama. The meetings will be held as follows: Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. (ET) at the Ben Robertson Community Center in Kennesaw, Ga.; Sept. 16 at 5 p.m. (ET) at the Forum in Rome, Ga.; Sept. 17 at 5 p.m. (CT) at the Senior Center Auditorium in Gadsden; and Sept. 18 at 5 p.m. (CT) at the Quality Inn (Old Governor's House) in Montgomery. For more information online visit http://www.sam.usace.army.mil. |