U.S. Fish and Wildlife delivers verdict today on releases for mussels … oh, and we officially have 79 days of water left?
November 16, 2007 at 10:35 am by Thomas Wheatley in NewsFrom That Other Paper’s Stacy Shelton:
Federal and state officials for the first time Thursday agreed on how much drinking water is left in Lake Lanier.
We have 79 days.
That makes today’s decision, which could slow the flow of water from Lanier to Florida, especially critical. The verdict from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists on whether federally protected mussels can live with less of Lanier’s water is being closely watched in Washington and three state capitals.
Unload that shotgun and stop filling those jugs, worried citizen — Pat Robbins, chief of public affairs for the Corps’ Mobile District, the office that oversees Buford Dam at Lake Lanier, said in a phone interview that the estimate quoted above does not include the dead pool located below the dam’s gates. “We have months,” Robbins said. Estimates have varied wildly since the crisis was announced.
Expect today’s verdict to anger at least one of the many parties involved in this water debate, which includes three governors, power companies, a seafood industry dependent on the flows, a huge metropolitan area, environmentalists, other states struggling with water supply issues … the list goes on.
The Corps planned to release even more water in March to sustain the endangered Gulf sturgeon spawning in the river. No word yet on how today’s verdict may change those plans, but we’ve got a call in with the Corps and will update when we hear news.
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November 16th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
“Unload that shotgun and stop filling those jugs, worried citizen”
A one liner to sum up the apocalypse.
i always envisioned the end of the world happening at a high speed buffet when the grits ran out, never over a common jug of water…
there is a bible verse somewhere in here but i’m holyed out on Oprah today.