The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it will initiate drought operations for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River (ACF) Basin, keeping more water in Lake Lanier and two other reservoirs in the system.
The announcement came from the Corps on Wednesday, a day when more than two and a half inches of rain fell in Gainesville and in Lake Lanier. The lake level on Thursday morning was 1062.12, still almost nine feet lower than the full pool of 1071.
Drought operations will reduce the flow of water from Lake Lanier into the Chattahoochee River, which ultimately feeds the Apalachicola River.
“By entering drought operations, the minimum flow into the Apalachicola River to protect threatened and endangered species becomes 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs),” said District Public Affairs Officer Lisa Hunter in a press statement.
“Provisions of the ACF drought plan allow us to maintain this minimum flow and store all available rainfall, when possible, until the basin recovers sufficiently to come out of drought operations.”
The other two reservoirs in the ACF Basin - West Point and Walter F. George - are at full pool.
“Because the West Point and Walter F. George reservoirs are above normal pool levels and normal rainfall is forecasted this week, reduced releases from the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam will not occur immediately.” Hunter said. “Drought operations improve the likelihood for refilling the reservoirs, while still meeting the habitat requirements for the threatened and endangered species.”
Current releases to the Apalachicola River from the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam are approximately 12,100 cfs. As conditions allow, the USACE will begin slowly reducing releases to 5,000 cfs.
Hunter described overall conditions in the Flint Basin and Chattahoochee Basin as abnormally dry.
Hunter explained it is unusual to initiate drought operations when two of the three reservoirs are full, but doing so provides the opportunity to conserve water since drought conditions are expected to get worse.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/4/521825/despite-rain-corps-of-engineers-activates-drought-operations-for-acf-basin