ACF Stakeholders seek peaceful end to water war

A group of business leaders, residents and other interests along the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint river system are coming together to form a group they hope can finally end the 20 year old tri-state water war between Florida, Alabama and Georgia. The group, called the ACF stakeholders, recently completed work on its by-laws and mission goals, and will now begin working to reach what they hope will be equitable solutions to the issue of sharing water from the river system. The ACF stakeholders will include a 56 member governing board made up of 14 representatives from each section of the river system reaching from Apalachicola to Atlanta. The stakeholders include government interests, fishermen, farmers, environmentalists, and people representing power companies and even recreational interests. The stakeholders group hopes it can bring all of the various users of the river system together to work on solutions that all of the groups can agree to and over time create a science based management plan that is fair to all users from the homeowners at Lake Lanier to the oystermen in the Apalachicola Bay. They also hope to create a scientifically valid understanding of the ACF river system as a whole. Currently the group is looking for people to serve on the governing board – they expect their first meeting to happen in early December. People interested in learning more about the ACF stakeholders or getting a membership application can go to the group’s website at www.acfstakeholders.org.