With Georgia taking the surface water from the Apalachicola River the result is bad.
         Getting worse.              Back to Home Page of SaveFloridaWater.org

This is what is going to happen to the St. John's River 
once the siphoning begins.

CHATTAHOOCHEE — The water trickled out of the forest like a lush mountain stream before flowing into the Apalachicola River. But what appeared to be a tranquil nature scene may represent a quiet environmental tragedy: Streams that big river fish need for summer refuge have become too shallow as the river has dropped and stayed low this summer. Striped bass, an important recreational species weighing 15 pounds or more, need cool water streams in the summer or they will die. But lack of water flowing from Georgia and Alabama is making a bad situation worse, according to some scientists and Florida environmentalists. "You can see what a couple feet of water could do —they could get up into the cool water," said Dan Tonsmeire of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper group. "Multiply that by all the creeks and sloughs that are cut off, you are talking about hundreds and hundreds of acres the fish are cut off from." The summer heat and lack of rain — especially in Georgia and Alabama — have turned up competition for water from the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. The river system extends to the mountains north of Atlanta. Alabama, Georgia and Florida have fought in court over water from the rivers since 1990. The issue pits upstream cities, farms and industry against the protection of endangered species in the Apalachicola River and the seafood industry in Apalachicola Bay. But Tonsmeire said the issue is dragging in the courts and could be at least a decade away from being resolved. And time, he argues, is not on the side of Florida or the Apalachicola River. Upstream water use is not totally to blame, said Helen Light, a wetlands scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The construction of Jim Woodruff Dam in 1954 also caused the river channel to deepen by trapping sediment behind the dam. A 2006 study led by the U.S. Geological Survey shows that the river downstream for 40 miles downstream has droped an average more than four feet. Fifty-eight percent of the drop is because of channel erosion and 42 percent is because there is less water flowing from Georgia and Alabama. In response to the study, a spokeswoman for Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue last year said the study findings "are consistent with our argument that Georgia is not responsible for the adverse environmental conditions that Florida is experiencing." But Light said the study shows that declining water flow is a large part of the problem during the summer months. The study also shows that more water — not less — is needed to maintain the Apalachicola River's ecology. "Channel change is a problem," she said. "But on top of the problem we already have, we have the more recent problem of decreased flows." Nearly all of the 82,000 acres of the Apalachicola River floodplain now remains dry longer, harming the fish, threatened and endangered mussels and the swamp forests that are needed to produce the region's prized tupelo honey, Light said. Gulf striped bass, which grow to be 25 to 30 pounds in size, need shady streams that are at least three feet deep. But several of the streams downstream from Chattahoochee recently were so shallow that the bass could not get into them. Instead, the bass recently were in the middle of the river near where cool spring water seeped out of limerock shoals. Those shoals, where Gulf sturgeon lay their eggs during spawning, now are dry. Several court cases involving the river were consolidated earlier this year by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson of Minnesota, who has overseen complex water litigation, was appointed to hear the case. Earlier this month, the Columbus, Ga. City Council agreed to sue to Corps of Engineers over lack of flow in the Chattahoochee River. The Corps operates federal dams along the river. Tonsmeire said Georgia should quit issuing permits for water use until all of the issues have been resolved and there is a clearer picture of how the river can survive. "The perception in Georgia that we have all the water we need down here is inaccurate," he said. "Everybody on the river is hurting to an extent." In response, a spokesman for Perdue, the Georgia governor, said Georgia is facing a historic drought and has restricted outdoor watering statewide. "We are taking this drought very seriously," said Bert Brantley, the governor's press secretary. "We are implementing what we feel like are the appropriate conservation measures." Tonsmeire said Florida should by-pass the district and appeals courts and seek a resolution through the U.S. Supreme Court as provided in federal law for interstate water disputes. He also said Florida needs to work with the Georgia Water Council on a water plan that protects the flow that Florida needs. And he said Florida needs to work closer with environmentalists and other in this state rather than working behind closed doors in litigation with Georgia and the Corps of Engineers. Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Sarah Williams wrote in an e-mail that the state has met numerous times with stakeholders, including Apalachicola Riverkeeper. She said the state also has provided comment on the actions of neighboring states. "Through these efforts, we will work to ensure that the needs of Florida's environment are considered and balanced with the many other needs, and that we have a sufficient amount of water to protect the Apalachicola River and Bay," Williams wrote. As time passes, Tonsmeire said, Georgia continues issuing permits for water. And he said that after another 10 years or more of litigation, there may not be water left for the Apalachicola River — the fish, the floodplain and the seafood that provides jobs. "This is folly, what we are doing," he said. "As humans, we are sharing this resource. The longer we wait, the harder it's going to be on everybody." Back to Home Page of SaveFloridaWater.org