Riley, lawmakers in D.C. angry over decisions by Corps

By Scott Wright

MONTGOMERY — Gov. Bob Riley last week strongly criticized a decision by the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce water releases from a lake in Georgia that supplies Weiss Lake and several man-made reservoirs on the Coosa River.

In an Oct. 2 letter to Corps of Engineers Mobile District commander Col. Byron Jorns, Riley questioned the decision to reduce flows from Lake Allatoona in northwest Georgia by 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) beginning Oct. 3, and warned that his administration is prepared to take legal action to force the Corps to restore the flows to the 700 cfs it agreed to in July.

“If you persist in you intended course, we as a state will be forced to take every action we can to correct this reckless, unjustified, and punitive curtailment of the flows dictated by your own manual,” Riley said in his letter.

“The issue of water resources will be among the most important to the people of this state for generations to come,” Riley press secretary Jeff Emerson told The Post Thursday. “And Gov. Riley is serious about protecting the interests of the people of Alabama. He is prepared to take legal action if necessary.”

In his letter to Jorns, Riley said the plan to reduce hydropower generation from Lake Allatoona by 50 percent while Alabama suffers from an “ongoing and devastating drought” will have dramatic effects on Alabama's water quality, water supply and economy.

“This decision has caused serious damage to the state of Alabama, and it has the high likelihood of causing serious disruptions to Alabama's public water supply, electric power grid, and industrial work force,” Riley wrote. “The decision also represents a continuing pattern by the Corps of Engineers of focusing on conditions at Lake Allatoona, while ignoring far more serious conditions in downstream reservoirs located in Alabama.”

Riley wrote that while Lake Allatoona still stands at more than 4 feet above winter pool level, “every one of the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) reservoirs in Alabama operated by Alabama Power Company is below its winter pool level.” Riley said projections indicate the lakes -- which include Weiss, Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell and Jordan on the Coosa River -- will “continue to drop to unprecedented lows in the weeks ahead.”

Riley accused Jorns and the Corps of being partly responsible for the poor condition of Alabama lakes compared to Lake Allatoona because during the spring and summer the Corps ignored its own operations manual and withheld over 18 billion gallons of water that was supposed to flow downstream into Alabama.

“Having made this conscious decision to disadvantage the downstream Alabama projects earlier in the year, the Corps has decided again to ignore its manual and cut hydropower generation from Lake Allatoona by 50 percent below the minimum level set by the manual,” he wrote Jorns. “The decision to favor Lake Allatoona over the rest of the system is wholly illegitimate and ignores the Corps' obligation to operate this federal resource in an even-handed manner.”

Riley warned Jorns that the flow reduction will have particularly disastrous effects for wildlife in Weiss Lake.

“The quality of water entering Alabama at Weiss Lake on the state line has teetered on the edge of failing to meet minimum water quality standards all summer,” Riley wrote. “There is virtually no doubt that the lower flows will cause levels of dissolved oxygen to drop, raising the likelihood of massive fish kills.”

Riley also wrote that because of what he considers the Corps' one-sided decisions in favor of Georgia residents, Alabamians may soon face increased costs to reach and treat water supplies.

“Taxpayers in numerous localities are having to spend tens of thousands of dollars to relocate water supply intakes,” Riley wrote. “This, of course, stands in stark contrast to the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority (CMWA), whose withdrawals from Lake Allatoona have greatly exceeded the amounts authorized in its storage contract with the Corps.”

Roy Alford, general manager for the Centre Water and Sewer Board, said the city's water supply will become endangered when the level of Weiss Lake reaches 553 ft. above sea level. As of Friday afternoon, the level was 557.6 ft., and dropping.

“We'll get our next projections on Oct. 11 and we'll go from there,” Alford told The Post. “We have an emergency pump that we can buy that will cost about $25,000 after we get all the electronics, pipes and motors it will take to continue pumping water out of the lake and into the treatment plant.”

A Corps of Engineers spokeswoman refused to comment on Riley's assertions that the federal agency makes decisions that favor Georgia over Alabama when it comes to water resources.

“I'm sure Col. Jorns will respond to Gov. Riley's letter, but that has not been put together as of right now,” she said.

Congressman Mike Rogers, who represents Alabama's Third District, which includes Cherokee County, said he is aware of the latest decision by the Corps and doesn't like it one bit.

“I don't know what the Corps of Engineers is thinking,” Rogers said of the decision to cut flows from Lake Allatoona to 500 cfs. “I find this completely unacceptable.”
A spokeswoman for Rep. Rogers said the entire Alabama legislative delegation has been asking the Corps for an in-depth analysis of the water situation on the ACT system for several weeks.

“They keep telling us they're still working on it,” she said. “They have not given us a timeline so far.”

In the meantime, she said, Rogers and other members of the delegation are working to locate federal funds so municipalities can pay for extra pumps and longer pipes to keep water flowing to their residents.

In a statement released Oct. 2, Sen. Richard Shelby questioned the ability of the Corps to effectively manage the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River basin.

“The Corps' decision to reduce hydropower production at Allatoona reinforces my concerns that they lack the ability to equitably manage the ACT River Basin,” Shelby said. “Alabama is facing the most significant drought on record and the Corps seems determined to exacerbate the issue. The recent increase in hydropower production has had a positive impact on Alabama's ability to maintain water quality and minimum flow levels and I believe reducing those levels is both ill-advised and premature.”

“This delegation has come together very well regarding this issue,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions on Thursday. “We will continue to watch the Corps of Engineers like a hawk because we feel they have shown favoritism to Georgia. We have to make sure they ensure a legitimate flow of water out of Lake Allatoona.”

On Oct. 1, Alabama Power announced plans to begin a series of reduced downstream flows into the Alabama River, beginning Oct. 8. A spokesman said the steps are necessary if there is any hope for the company to see its lakes in the ACT basin reach full pool in 2008.

“Without these addition steps, the outlook for refilling our storage reservoirs on the Coosa and Tallapoosa next spring is bleak,” said Willard Bowers, vice president for environmental affairs.

For the latest on lake levels visit www.alabamapower.com and click on "drought." Information can also be obtained by calling Alabama Power's automated Reservoir Information System at 1-800-LAKES11 (1-800-525-3711).