Lake Lanier Association news

Ten reasons to attend the LLA's annual meeting on May 24

By Joanna Cloud, Executive Director
 
Mark your calendars now for the 2012 Lake Lanier Association annual meeting on Thursday, May 24, starting with a business expo and meet-and-greet at 5 p.m. It will be held at Gainesville State College’s Oakwood Campus at I-985 and Mundy Mill Road in the campus’ Continuing Education and Performing Arts Center. Follow the signs.

The meeting is open to all of the association’s current members. Non-members may join at the annual meeting. There will be several items of interest:
• From 5 to 6 p.m., there will be a Meet and Greet session with many of our local elected officials and candidates running for office. We have asked all the candidates to answer several questions regarding their stance on Lanier related issues and we will include their responses in the handout materials at the meeting. We encourage all members to attend this session and use this opportunity to voice your concerns regarding lake issues to our elected officials.
• Concurrently, visit with area businesses at the business expo. For current business level LLA members, this is an opportunity to have face-to-face contact with lake property owners and recreational users. There is no charge to our business members to exhibit at this event, but space is limited and reservations are required. To reserve a space, please send an email to lakeinfo@lakelanier.org or call 770-503-7757.
• From 6 to 8 p.m., the association’s annual business meeting takes place. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has been invited to speak as our keynote. Frank Norton of The Norton Agency will speak regarding economic conditions surrounding lake real estate.

In case you’re still deciding whether to attend, check out these Top 10 reasons to join us at this year’s meeting.

1. Hear top state officials talk about water management strategy in Georgia, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle
2. Meet elected officials and candidates running for office who will influence decisions surrounding lake operations
3. Meet other lake-minded individuals who share common interest in protecting Lake Lanier
4. Talk to lake-related businesses that offer products and services with you in mind
5. Hear Frank Norton talk about lake-related economics
6. Learn more about what the LLA does to advocate for your interests in Lake Lanier
7. Find out more about ongoing projects and objectives for the LLA
8. Give your input to the LLA about lake issues that you think are important
9. Learn more about compelling lake issues that affect you!
10. Because you are a member, right? This is your opportunity to find more value in your membership.

Come to the annual meeting. If you’re not a member, a family membership is only $50 and you’ll hear all about the issues affecting North Georgia and Lake Lanier.
 
Founded in 1966, the LLA is the oldest volunteer group working to protect the high water quality as well as water levels and to preserve its valuable legacy for future generations. It is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization.

More info: 770-503-7757,  www.lakelanier.org


April 2012 column

Association takes look at Glades Reservoir

By Val Perry. Executive Vice President, Lake Lanier Association

 The Lake Lanier Association has begun our review of the Glades reservoir project sponsored by the Hall County Board of Commissioners. After attending the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Agency and Scoping Meeting in Gainesville on Wednesday, March 20, we have some observations.

As background, the Glades project began in 2007. The proposed reservoir would have stored available natural stream flow from Flat Creek and would have been intended to supplement existing water supplies from Lanier (through the City of Gainesville water system), to meet the needs of eastern and northern Hall County through the year 2060. It was to provide 6.4 million gallons per day of water.

In 2009 Federal Administrative Law Judge Paul Magnusson issued a ruling as part of the Tri-States water war litigation that Lanier was not authorized to provide water supply for North Georgia and the city of Atlanta which was subsequently overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In spite of that ruling, the Glades project grew from 6.4 MGD to 80 MGD.

Today, the plan is for an 850-acre reservoir that will be used to augment the flow to the Cedar Creek Reservoir during periods of low flow. Nominally at its maximum capacity, 80 MGD will be withdrawn directly from the Chattahoochee to supply water to the Cedar Creek Reservoir in Hall County only.

As we understand it, the Glades Reservoir will only be used to “make up” inadequate flow during low flow periods. With this dramatic proposed water withdrawal from the main Lanier water supply, we feel the following questions need to be considered and evaluated:
• What is the impact on Lake Lanier of taking 80 MGD from the main Lanier input river and transferring the flow to another basin (Oconee)?
• Further, the water flowing into and out of the Cedar Creek reservoir will be managed by Hall County, not the Corps of Engineers. What will the Hall County management strategy for water flows and utilization be?

The Hall County proposal estimates that the only impact on Lanier would be a reduction in the water level by 3.5 inches. We feel that an independent evaluation of this impact would provide not just an “inches average” reduction but should include the maximum impact and frequency on Lanier, which has been at 21 feet of water loss during drought conditions.

Last June the Magnusson ruling was overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and that decision was “en banc” supported by all 10 of the Appellate Court Judges.

We now ask, “Is it really necessary to increase the Glades project to 80 MGD, now that Lake Lanier has been validated and authorized as water supply purpose?”

North and eastern Hall County are not the only growth areas above Lanier. Habersham and White counties will no doubt experience significant growth along with Hall. The total impact of all of the growth on the Lanier recreation economy should be evaluated.

In summary, we are convinced that a significant detailed study is needed to determine the impacts on Lanier and downstream stakeholders of creating a large diversion of the main water source for North Georgia and other water users. We will continue to study these questions and will prepare a final comment document for the Corps by April 17, 2012, as directed by the current process


March 2012 column

ACF stakeholders initiative moves forward

By Wilton Rooks, Vice President, LLA

Forty-two months ago, in August 2008, a small group of people interested in the waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin met in LaGrange to explore the question: “Can a diverse group of stakeholders work together to share a common resource, the waters of the ACF Basin?”

From that beginning, the group has grown to consist of representatives from water utilities, environmental organizations, power companies, agriculture, chambers of commerce, industries, as well as recreational advocates, navigation advocates and more throughout the ACF Basin and in Georgia, Florida and Alabama. With no power base – except the power of a unified voice – the group has hammered out governance provisions, investigated issues and has voted to move forward with progressive projects to develop solutions for shared water usage that have not been addressed before.

Most recently, the organization has solicited proposals for two major undertakings for 2012:
• A Sustainable Water Management Plan – Black & Veatch was selected as consultants for this project that will perform modeling tasks to assess the availability of water in the ACF Basin to meet the needs of stakeholders. Each stakeholder category, such as recreation, water supply, environmental, and more has been asked to document its needs for water during both normal weather conditions and during drought conditions. These performance criteria will be used by B&V to create computer models that can determine the adequacy of water to meet needs under various climactic conditions.
• An Instream Flow and Lake Level Assessment – Atkins Global was selected as consultants for this project that will define the flows and levels in the various rivers in the ACF Basin to support the environmental needs.

In addition, the ACF Stakeholders group is conducting a Best Management Practices survey, in partnership with the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia, to define ways for the waters to be used more efficiently.

All of these projects have a single goal of defining more efficient ways to use the waters of the ACF Basin so that all users can benefit. The data developed through the SWMP and IFLLA projects will help inform water policy and water management operations. So 2012 should be a busy year.

The ACF Stakeholders organization is comprised of an eight-member executive board and a 56-member governing board. Each of the four sub-basin groups – Upper Chattahoochee, Middle/Lower Chattahoochee, Flint and Apalachicola – has equal representation. Industries represented include water supply, farm and urban agriculture, recreation, local government, water quality, industry and manufacturing, navigation, hydro power, thermal power, business/economic development; environmental and conservation, seafood industry, historic and cultural interests. Members are from Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Follow ACF Stakeholders on its website at www.acfstakeholders.org.