Corps agrees to unbottle Georgia water

By Scott Wright

CENTRE — Millions of gallons of water pigeon-holed in Georgia since at least May by the Army Corps of Engineers will soon be headed down the Coosa River.

District 3 Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, told The Post Friday that after weeks of delays, the Corps has agreed to an Alabama Power Co. request to release 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Lake Allatoona in northwest Georgia. Combined with releases from Carters Lake in Georgia, flows into the Coosa River should soon increase to 1,080 cfs.

Last month, due to exceptional drought conditions and flow limits instituted by the Corps, the daily flow in the Coosa dropped to an all-time low of 848 cfs.

(Editor's note: One cubic foot of water equals 7.48 gallons. Therefore, the increased water releases by the Corps will allow an additional 1,496 gallons per second to flow into the Coosa River.)

The Corps also agreed to a 10 percent reduction in Alabama Power's minimum daily flow requirement into the Alabama River, a concession that should help slow the drain of water currently held in Weiss and other lakes along the Coosa.

Alabama Power, which operates several dams on the river including Weiss Dam in Leesburg, requested concessions from the Corps on May 16, but ran into a wall of government red tape. Meanwhile, the worst drought in 100 years dropped reservoirs along the Coosa to as much as 10 ft. below their normal level.

Weiss Lake was at 561.2 ft. above sea level Friday -- almost 3 ft. below normal summer pool.

(Editor's note: Click here for the latest on Alabama lake levels.)

Corps of Engineers spokesman Ron Holland told The Post severe drought conditions led his agency to begin limiting daily water releases from the Allatoona and Carters lakes as early as May -- about the same time Alabama Power first asked for concessions.

Asked if he considered it “fair” for the Corps to disregard its own rules for minimum releases while delaying Alabama Power's requests for drought relief, Holland said the question was like “comparing apples and oranges.”

“It's not fair for anyone when you're dealing with a drought,” he said. “This is a complex beast and we're doing our best to manage the resources we have.”

Holland said the amount of water the Corps could release from the two lakes in Georgia wouldn't be enough to alleviate drought conditions for thousands of Alabamians, anyway.

“They need a lot more water than Allatoona and Carters can provide,” he said.

The following day, however -- following weeks of arm-twisting by Rogers, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and others -- the Corps apparently changed its mind.

Delaying tactics
Rogers said it was sometimes difficult to keep his anger in check while dealing with the “illogical logic” of some Corps of Engineers officials in Washington.

“I had been pushing the Corps to release more water and had kind of gotten the shuffle from them,” Rogers said. “I had a stern conversation in my office with the new colonel and asked him to make the decision to move more water.”

Rogers said he was promised downstream releases on the Coosa would be increased. Days later, however, Rogers received word that the Corps had flip-flopped.

“That really hacked me off,” Rogers said. “But we kept working on it and we never let up.”

Rogers didn't seem surprised by callous comments from the Corps, but added he's grateful to the newly-appointed head of the Mobile office for his help in easing the effects of the drought.

“I think Col. Byron G. Jorns realizes what a poor job the Mobile office has done in the past, what a poor job of public relations they've done,” Rogers said. “I believe he's going to be committed to rehabilitating the office in those areas. And even though it's not all we want, this water release is a good first step.”

Rogers said Gov. Riley was instrumental in persuading the Corps to pull an about-face. Last week, Riley sent a letter to the secretary of the Army accusing the Corps of illegally withholding over 18 billion gallons of water in Lake Allatoona that should have been released into the Coosa.

“Alabama understands that everyone will feel the pain of this drought,” Riley said in a statement released after Friday's announcement. “These actions by the Corps will help to ensure that our state will not bear more than its fair share of the pain.”

At a press conference in Gadsden Thursday, Alabama Power Vice President for Environmental Affairs Willard Bowers stressed the need for immediate help from the Corps in order to avoid historic low water levels.

“We are facing a drought of record proportions,” Bowers said. “We've had some rain and some people think the drought is over, but it's not.”

Attempts to contact Bowers were unsuccessful. A press release issued by Alabama Power Friday afternoon stated Weiss Lake is still expected to fall to winter pool (558 ft.) by Sept. 1, three months earlier than normal.

For the latest information on lake levels, call 1-800-LAKES11, or visit the Alabama Power website at www.alabamapower.com and click on the "drought" link on the bottom left side of the home page.