Dear List Members,
Your association has been very busy over the last few weeks meeting with Corps’ officials to discuss lake levels.
Meetings with the Corps
As you may have read, a delegation of Georgia legislators met on July 9 in DC with the Undersecretary of the Army who oversees the Corps of Engineers and discussed Lake Lanier lake levels and management. The Lake Lanier Association prepared and provided an indepth presentation to the legislators who used it to form the basis of their discussion and requests.
We requested a meeting with Brig. Gen. Schroedel, commander of the Corps’ South Atlantic division, to discuss the Corps’ management of the lake and met with him on July 16. Representing the association were Val Perry, Executive Vice President, Wilton Rooks, Vice President, and Clyde Morris, LLA legal council. Also attending were John Heard, Georgia State House Representative, Gwinnett County, Dr. Carol Couch, Director Georgia EPD, Virgil Williams, Lake Lanier Islands Resort and other Lake Lanier Islands representatives.
We made a detailed presentation on our assessment of the Corps’ Revised Interim Operating Plan’s (RIOP) impact on Lake Lanier and suggested modifications to this RIOP to help keep more water in Lake Lanier.
Tri-States Lawsuits
Florida, Alabama, and the Southeastern Federal Power Customers (SeFPC) all filed motions in the Tri-State Water Rights Litigation recently seeking to push the Corps’ current management of Lake Lanier to the back burner and turn the court’s attention instead to a tangential issue regarding water supply contracts that would have little bearing on the more serious issue of preserving Lake Lanier’s water. They are trying to take advantage of a court decision issued several months ago in a related case that invalidated a settlement agreement among Georgia, the SeFPC, and various Georgia water supply providers regarding allocation of storage space in Lake Lanier for north Georgia’s water supply needs. The LLA views the motions as a tactic that would divert attention away from the disastrous 2007 draw-down of the Lake and the real possibility that a further significant draw-down could occur again in 2008, now that we are entering the driest part of the year. For that reason, the LLA categorically opposed the motions. On Friday, the LLA and all the other Georgia parties to the litigation opposed the motions in documents filed with the court. These filings may be viewed on our Web site.
More information on our activities concerning lake levels can be found in the July issue of our newsletter, Lanier Outlook. If you are not a member of the Lake Lanier Association we hope you will join and support our work. Members receive our bi-monthly newsletters, invitations to our meetings and special notices.
Request for Support
The Lake Lanier Association appreciates all the financial support you have generously donated enabling us to be an intervener in all the Tri-States lawsuits. We are the only organization representing the lake in those suits, and we are asking for your continued support of our efforts by donating to our legal fund.You may send a check marked legal donation to our office at the address below or may contribute on our Web site
Thank you very much.
Vicki Barnhorst
The Lake Lanier Association
Tags: corps, lake lanier, Lawsuits, Tri-States
