US Wildlife Service Says Lower River Flows OK

Here's a link to the Fish and Wildlife Service Ruling that lower water flows in the Apalachicola River won't harm endangered species. Theres a lot of info on this page - check it out

http://www.fws.gov/southeast/drought/


The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that a Corps of Engineers Plan to hold more water back for the city of Atlanta would likely not harm four federally protected species living in the Apalachicola River. The Corps’ revised plan increases the amount of water to be stored throughout the Apalachicola Chattahoochee and Flint river system including at Lake Lanier, West Point, and Walter F. George. Under the Revised Interim Operations Plan, the Corps say they will insure a minimum flow of 5,000 cubic feet per second into the Apalachicola River, except in extreme drought when the minimum flows will be reduced to 4,500 cubic feet per second. The corps says the plan is needed to deal with ongoing drought conditions across the Southeast. The opinion will be in effect through June 1, 2013, unless the wildlife Service finds proof that the plan is hurting the Gulf sturgeon, fat threeridge mussel, purple bankclimber mussel and Chipola slabshell mussel. The Fish and Wildlife Service said the species that is likely to be affected the most is the fat threeridge mussel, which could lose up to nine percent of its population under the Corps plan. The fat threeridge is an endangered species which is primarily found in the Apalachicola River. The purple bankclimber and The Chipola slabshell are both threatened species. Florida Governor Charlie Crist called the decision disappointing adding that a continued reduction in flows to the Apalachicola River over the next five years places the economic and environmental future of an entire region at risk. He said The plan creates significant challenges in managing one of the most productive and diverse estuaries on the Gulf of Mexico.

.Get more Franklin County news now at Oysterradio.com