Franklin County says proposed water control manual will not protect the Apalachicola Bay

Franklin County commissioners have endorsed a letter criticizing the proposed Master Water Control Manual for the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint river system.

 The Army Corps of Engineers recently released a draft copy of the manual which is the guide used by Corps of Engineers to operate the five reservoirs on the Chattahoochee River.

The corps is currently taking public comment on the proposed manual – and many in Florida say the manual does not provide enough fresh water for the Apalachicola Bay.

In a letter that will be delivered to the Corps of engineers during a public hearing on November 9^th, Franklin County commissioners say the proposed manual does not provide enough freshwater flow to the Apalachicola Bay’s oyster industry.

The letter warns that if more is not done to protect oysters, the Apalachicola Oyster industry will become images for history books.

The County commission also endorsed a letter recently issued by 22 of Florida’s 29 members of congress urging the Army Corps of Engineers to address the lack of freshwater flow to the Apalachicola Bay in its draft Master Water Control Manual.

That letter says the Corps’ recommended changes to the Master Water Control Manual will do nothing to protect the health of the full river.

The public has about 60 days to comment updated Master Water Control Manual.

The updated manual can be downloaded – we’ve posted the link on this story at oysterradio.com and on the Oyster Radio facebook page.

There will also be a number of public meetings on the updated Master Water Control Manual where you can also make public comments.

The closest to our area will be on Monday, November 9^th at the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research reserve Nature Center at 108 Island Drive in Eastpoint.

FIND THE MANUAL ONLINE AT http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/PlanningEnvironmental/ACFMasterWaterControlManualUpdate/ACFDocumentLibrary.aspx

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