ACF River Basin Newsletter

October 2012 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is resuming the process to update the Master Water Control Manual (WCM) for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin and to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) addressing the effects of the proposed manual updates to account for significant new information resulting from a June 28, 2011, ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. That ruling concluded that water supply is an authorized purpose for Buford Dam/Lake Sidney Lanier on the Chattahoochee River northeast of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Accordingly, on October 12, 2012, the Corps issued a Federal Register Notice of Intent (NOI) to reopen public scoping for 60 days. Interested parties can review a copy of the NOI online at www.sam.usace.army.mil/pa/acf-wcm/docs.htm and submit comments by email at ACF-WCM@usace.army.mil, online, or by regular mail at the address indicated below. The June 2011 Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling (1) reversed a July 2009 Federal District Court decision that the Corps had exceeded its authority under the 1946 Buford Dam/Lake Sidney Lanier project authorization and the Water Supply Act of 1958 by operating the project to accommodate present levels of withdrawals for water supply for metro Atlanta, and (2) directed that the case be remanded back to the Corps to reconsider and make a final determination as to its legal authority to operate Buford Dam/Lake Sidney Lanier to accommodate Georgia’s water supply request made in 2000. The Corps is updating the water control plans and manuals for the ACF Basin in order to improve operations for authorized purposes to reflect changed conditions since the manuals were last developed. The revised EIS will also consider, along with operations for all authorized purposes, an expanded range of water supply alternatives associated with the Buford Dam/Lake Lanier project, including current levels of water supply withdrawals and additional amounts that Georgia has requested from Lake Lanier and downstream at Atlanta. In the scoping process, the Corps encourages agencies, organizations, and the public to participate in the Master WCM update/EIS process and solicits input from those interests to ensure that relevant technical information, potential environmental effects, and public concerns are identified and fully considered. Throughout the scoping and subsequent WCM update and EIS development process, the public can obtain information on the progress of the project at the project website,www.sam.usace.army.mil/pa/acf-wcm/index.htm. A general timeline of the process is presented below with point of contact information if you have additional questions. How to Get Involved Agencies, organizations, and members of the public can submit scoping comments by email at ACF-WCM@usace.army.mil, online at the project website,www.sam.usace.army.mil/pa/acf-wcm/form.htm, or by regular mail to Tetra Tech, Inc. 61 St. Joseph Street, Suite 550 Mobile, AL 36602-3521 Tetra Tech, a Corps contractor, will be collecting all information for the Corps, Mobile District. The deadline to submit scoping comments is December 11, 2012. When the comment period has ended, the scoping comments will be compiled, categorized, and summarized, and a scoping report will be prepared and posted on the project website. Other detailed information about the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin will also be available on the website. Corps Support The information collected from agencies, organizations, and the public during the scoping process will be used to Identify significant issues and resource areas of concern Identify stakeholders to assist in the evaluation process Identify information sources and data gaps Identify and focus on the alternatives to be evaluated Identify the conditions for comparing the proposed action and alternatives Identify tools to help evaluate alternatives and analyze the impacts Identify areas of limited concern to ensure the evaluation focuses on major issues identified for analysis Specific questions may be directed to Mr. Brian Zettle Environmental and Resources Branch Planning and Environmental Division U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District P.O. Box 2288 Mobile, AL 36628-0001 Telephone (251) 690-2115 Fax (251) 694-3815 Email brian.a.zettle@usace.army.mil

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